


Wishes, Dreams, and Memories

by DarkGreiga



Category: Rune Factory 4
Genre: F/M, FanFiction.Net, Spoiler alert: third arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-04-04 02:04:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 40
Words: 95,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14009805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkGreiga/pseuds/DarkGreiga
Summary: She had a wish to see him again and to live with everyone again. He had a dream about the past he had forgotten. They had their memories of having only each other. The amnesiac Earthmate never knew that by bringing his best friend back wouldn't make his daily life go back to normal. Nor did he know she was the key to his and his ancestors' past.





	1. Dreaming of Venti

**Author's Note:**

> This is a repost from FF.net under the same name. The story is divided into 3 arcs, with the first one retelling the game's third arc along with additional stuff that drives the story towards the next two arcs.

**-First Person POV-**

_I feel cold. I feel the wind. I can see the clouds in front of me. I feel like I’m falling through the clouds. I can hear faint voices coming from above me, coming from the shadow far above me. The shadow is getting smaller and smaller, and I can’t hear those voices anymore. The shadow disappears, getting covered by the clouds. I’m still falling._

_Is this the end? Am I going to die, just like this? I don’t remember why I’m here, where I’m from, or who those people are. Is this how my life is supposed to end? Falling into the unknown, knowing nothing around me. It’s a scary death and I don’t know where I’ll wind up dying or who’ll find my dead body._

_But… I don’t want to die… I’m scared, but I don’t know who I should turn to. I don’t remember anyone. But if this is how my fate is supposed to be, I’ll just close my eyes. I’m too afraid to find out how I die. As dark as it is, I think this is the best choice for me._

_I feel my back hitting on something hard. Something hard, but scaly. It hurts, but not as much as I expect. I feel my body sliding off something that’s scaly before landing on something hard. I can still move my arms. I can still move my legs, my head, and my entire body. I reopen my eyes, and I see something green._

_“Hey, there… are you alive?” I hear the green thing talking, but I can’t still see who or what is talking to me._

_“H-Hello?” The thing asks again, but I can’t still see too clearly. I suddenly see something moving and feel something sharp poking my left arm, “You’re not dead, are you?”_

_Good question. I don’t know myself. I know that this green thing is too big to be an angel. Does that mean I’m still alive? But I’ve never seen anything so big like that… and that thing can speak human language. Huh, this must be a dream then. A really crazy dream._

_Everything suddenly goes bright and I suddenly feel like I’m standing in a big room. Oh, right. That isn’t any green thing. It’s Venti, and I’m standing in her room along with her and four other people. Well, three people and one ghost in the room. It’s the three other Guardians that I‘ve saved before and they are looking with surprised looks at Venti._

_“I’m sorry for everything you’ve all gone through in my account,” Venti finally speaks up, breaking the silence in the room._

_The woman with pink hair, Dolce, pushes her ghost friend off her before looking sadly at Venti, “Ven…” Her frown turns into a smile, “… you’ve grown.”_

_The man with light blue hair, Dylas, looks at Dolce in confusion and then at Venti, pausing for a moment before folding his arms, “You think? She looks the same to me.”_

_The shorter woman with green hair, Amber, smiles cheerfully and looks at Venti, “I think she has. She seems more dignified.”_

_Hearing their responses, Venti let out a laugh. Even so, sadness still remains in her eyes, “None of you changed at all.”_

_Amber’s smile is replaced by a confused look, “But why was it that I’d forgotten about you? You were such a dear friend to me…”_

_Venti goes silent, turning her head away in guilt, “That’s… my fault…” Venti turns back to the three, “I had taken away all of your memories of your time with me. I’m sorry…”_

_“Why would you do that?” Dolce asks, looking up at Venti._

_“I was just concerned that you all might try to become Guardians again…” Venti lets out a sad sigh, “Leaving me all alone again…”_

_Everything around me goes dark._

_‘Leaving me all alone again’, she said. Venti doesn’t want to be alone, not anymore. She doesn’t want to be alone again, because her friends are all here with her. I can imagine all of us in Venti’s room, laughing and bickering like old friends who haven’t seen each other in a very long time…_

_The image blurs away, fading into the darkness._

**-Third Person POV-**

A young man with short hazel hair stirred in his sleep, slowly waking up. Lest opened his eyes and sat up, looking around to see that he was sleeping his room in the castle. His hands reached for his eyes, which were wet as he cried in his sleep.

_‘A dream, huh…’_ He looked at the hand which he used to wipe the tears from his eyes, _‘It’s been over a year since Venti disappeared…’_

It was dark in the room with the only light in the room was the moonlight coming from his windows, which was on the wall across him. The warm wind of summer blew from the slightly opened window, letting the curtains blew along the winds. Being the end of summer, the temperature had started cooling down, but not cool enough for the Earthmate not to fan himself with his hands.

With a loud sigh, Lest left his bed and headed towards his closet, positioned on the right wall of his room. Lest took his spare of usual clothes and put the pajamas he was wearing on his bed. He went out of his room and turned to his right where he had put his storage box and went through the items within the box. A bright green sword, which had the blade shaped like an object blown by the wind, came into view before Lest took it in his hand. With the green sword placed inside the sheath on his left hip, Lest walked out of the main room of the building to be greeted by the late summer wind.

The usually lively and busy town was quiet at night as only the sound of the blown leaves was heard in the town square. All the noises of people talking and walking around town had made the town very lively despite the fact that not all of the residents of Selphia was there at that time. That dragon god who had been protecting the town all this time was gone within a day, but the people had slowly moved on with their lives. The whole town had been moving in time, just the way she had wished for.

Lest closed his eyes and raised his head, letting the wind blew on his face as he tried recollecting how things had gone since his best friend had left. How he and the Guardians had witnessed Ventuswill’s disappearance and how it affected their lives. How the townsfolk had prepared a special memorial of Ventuswill, treating as if she had already died. Lest was among the few who refused to believe she had really gone for good.

The hazel-haired young man opened his eyes and stretched his arms, “Maybe I should go for a walk…” Lest turned to his left until a blur of green caught his eyes, “Huh?” Lest to the gate where he thought he had seen the green color and saw a small shadow coming through the gate. Lest had his hand ready at the sword’s hilt, until he saw the familiar of the shadow as they went through the gate, “Isn’t that Amber?”

The shadow, which turned out to be Amber, let out a yawn while walking to the east side of the town. Lest watched her walking until she was out of his sight and let go of his hold on the sword hilt. He let out a relieved sigh as he dropped his tensed shoulders. Looking at the direction where the Guardian had left, Lest wondered the reason why she would be out of town until after midnight.

Lest shrugged before turning to his right, “Maybe I should ask her tomorrow…” Lest started his walk towards the west side of the town, “Maybe a short walk will clear my mind.”


	2. That Memorable Day

The quietness of the west side of town made the sound of flowing water clearly heard, accompanied by the sound of the leaves on the trees. The hazel-haired young man stopped his midnight stroll at the bench by the river and took a seat, looking at the nearest building in front of him. His eyes travelled to the second floor, where the bedrooms of the building’s inhabitants were.

Lest leaned on the bench and smiled without taking his eyes off the building, _‘It’s been over a year since that day… Isn’t that right, Dolce?’_

**_-Flashback-_ **

_Slight panting was heard as the hazel-haired Earthmate took the steps on the hard ground made of rocks and moss. The rain a few hours before had made the tracks a bit slippery to walk, but the Earthmate’s experience from working in the fields had helped him keep on his feet. Another pair of footsteps was following him closely from behind him with a ghost floating at the side._

_Lest looked up at the sky, which had changed from sky blue into orange color. He put his left hand on the top end of his sword sheath as he stood in front of a set of stairs made of rocks and moss. To protect the town he had finally considered home, and to keep his promises to one of the Native Dragons he had considered a friend. As the Earthmate stopped in front of the stairs, the pair behind him had followed suit._

_The follower, who was a young woman around Lest’s age stood silently, waiting for the Earthmate to either move or ask her to do something. Seeing how battered his body was, her experience in first aid medic should be expected. But the woman stood patiently, not wanting to do something outside his commands and favors, knowing that the field they were standing on was in the enemy territory. A single wrong move could cost them their lives. Or worse, the other lives living in Selphia._

_A loud sigh was heard before Lest spoke up, “Dolce, Pico, you two should go back,” The hazel-haired turned his head to his followers with a smile, “I can handle Ethelberd by myself.”_

_“It’s too dangerous!” Dolce objected with a stern look, “He’s too strong, and you’re not in prime condition!”_

“Dolly’s right! At least let us help you fight him!” _Pico was looking concerned, but not as concerned as her human friend._

_They were right. Lest had taken some damage with some scars left on his face and body, leaving tears on his clothes. The healing spells Dolce had used on him had helped him when he couldn’t reach his backpack in time for medicine, but the fast healing effect had left scars all over his body. While normal people couldn’t easily take hits and live, Lest’s strong desire to protect had him standing despite the damage and exhaustion he had._

_Even with the woman and her ghost friend worrying his condition, his confidence didn’t fade. If he couldn’t do it, who would then take his place? Ventuswill was weakening as time went by and there was no time to think about who would stand up to the Sechs. Lest knew that Selphia wasn’t his home in the first place, but he was accepted as if he had already been there for years. The townsfolk had given him a home and a new life when he couldn’t remember his, and this was his time to return the favor and spend his life in his new home. With them. Or rather, especially with one special person._

_Lest turned away his head and went back to looking at the stairs, “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I just… don’t want you to get hurt,”_

_The words had taken the female Guardian by surprise. Her mind went to those few seconds, making sure that she wasn’t hearing things. Never did she hear those words from anyone in her era, she never cared about anyone other than her family, Pico, and Ventuswill. She expected the same for the era she had finally woken in, until this stranger came. That one person who was never affected by her blunt words, much like the people she had cared._

_Dolce would usually give him another objection or sarcastic remarks that would make him change his mind, but the words Lest said had her froze in place. Her unusual reaction had caught the attention of Pico, who looked at her in confusion,_ “Dolly?”

_Lest rolled his hands into fists and took a deep breath, “I can’t even think of losing you, I’m too afraid to imagine if that were to happen. It’s because…” Lest turned his head to see Dolce, who was even more stunned to see him looking at her with a smile and a slight, “I love you, Dolce…”_

“WHAAAT!?” _The ghost was the first one to respond in shock,_ “Dolly is mine! I’m not-”

_“Come back safely,” Dolce’s response cut off Pico, which made her even more shocked. A light blush was clearly seen on her face as she looked at Lest, “Come home safely or you can’t hear my answer,” Dolce nervously walked closed towards Lest and pulled out a few small blue bottles from the small bag strapped to her belt, “Take these, you’ll need them.”_

_Lest turned to face Dolce and took the bottles from her hand, “Thanks for the potions, Dolce. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in one piece!”_

_“I can’t sew you back into one piece if you aren’t, so make sure you aren’t coming back in many pieces,” Dolce let out a smile before turning back to Pico, “Pico, let’s go back to town.”_

“Huh? Wait, Dolly-” _Pico’s sentences was once again cut short as Dolce had grabbed by her arm and teleported away._

_Lest let out a smile as he kept looking at the spot where the female Guardian used to be, “Don’t worry, Dolce,” The Earthmate turned back to the set of stairs with a stern look on his face, “I’ll come back safely, I promise!”_

**_-End of Flashback_ **

Recalling the memory of the moment before the final battle, Lest let out a laugh, “A confession right before a fateful battle… Venti was there to help me before she got merged with Ethelberd…” The thought of his dragon friend had completely wiped the smile on his face, _‘Venti…’_

Lest paused for a moment as he was trying not to cry over his lost friend once more. After all, he had the whole townspeople there for him. No matter where he was from or who he actually was, the people of Selphia had accepted him as one of them. They were always there for him and would be there to lend a helping hand, even going as far as the rune spots so that they could send their thoughts and prayers as rune energy to help him defeat the Sechs Emperor.

“Yes…” Lest laid back on the bench, “The Guardians were helping the others send more rune energy to me from the rune spots…”

**_-Flashback-_ **

_He was losing hope. He couldn’t command his body to move, not even an inch. His vision was getting blurry, slowly getting darker and darker until it was completely black. He couldn’t sense his arms, his legs, or his body. The only thing he could sense was Ethelberd’s voice, which was a mix of Ethelberd’s and Venti’s voice._

_Just as he was going to give up, he heard a voice. And another different voice. They were the voices of the townspeople, cheering him on and telling him not to give up. As more and more voices were heard in his head, his started feeling some warmth within his heart. His body was still weak from all the damage he took on the battle with Ethelberd, but he knew that he was still alive._

_In the small clearing deep within the Yokmir Forest, Amber was holding Venti’s charm while being accompanied by Blossom, Illuminata, and Vishnal. The green-haired Guardian was struggling to send him some rune energy through the prayers, but the energy got through to him in the end._

“Don’t forget, Lest! We’re all here for you!”

_Similar scene happened in the main room of Water Ruins. The blue-haired Guardian was holding Venti’s charm to send some rune energy, along with Porcoline, Margaret, Clorica, and Bado in the same room. Although with a little scolding from Margaret, the rune energy managed to get through and reached Lest._

“Remember, you’re not alone! We’re all helping!”

_In the main room the Obsidian Mansion at the western most side of the town, Dolce, Pico, Jones, Nancy, and Kiel were standing by the rune spot. Dolce was holding the charm, sending rune energy to Lest. As exhausted as she was, Dolce never let the charm off her hand, thinking that she would still be able to send rune energy to Lest much like how she had done it to Venti for many years._

“So I really hope… for your safe return…”

_At the top of Leon Karnak, Leon was sending rune energy to Lest with Forte, Xiao Pai, Lin Fa, and Volkanon standing around him. Being the loyal and dutiful knight, Forte felt bad for not being able to join Lest’s fight although she would do her best to protect the town. Volkanon promised that the butlers would take care of the castle._

“We believe in whatever future you weave.”

**_-End of Flashback-_ **

Lest stood up from his seat and stretched his arms as he let out a big yawn, “Well, doing a lot of remembering of that memorable day is making me tired… Maybe I’ll do a quick walk around the town while heading back home.”

Lest continued walking and headed towards the crossroad, but stopped when he noticed a ray of light coming from Kiel’s and Forte’s house. Although it was late at night, seeing the light turned on in the house didn’t actually bother him. Forte’s little brother had always liked reading since childhood and he would often find himself staying up late from reading a book that he found interesting.

Knowing that things were going to be fine, Lest continued his walk towards the northern area of the town which was quieter than in the western part. Another ray of light was seen near the restaurant, which caught Lest’s attention. The hazel-haired Earthmate approached the building, only to found that the restaurant’s lights were off and the lights from the manor were on.

Lest passed by the manor’s windows, which led to the prince’s office, and saw the blond prince sitting on his desk with piles of books and paper on his left and right sides. Arthur would sometimes flip a few pages from one book and took another one to be put next to the previous one, as if comparing something from the two books and wrote something else on a piece of paper.

Lest brought his hand towards the door, both wanting to know about what Arthur was working on and to tell him to rest, but left his hand back to his side. The window where Lest had looked into the office was right in front of Arthur’s desk, but the young prince didn’t even notice the Earthmate standing there.

“Arthur seems busier than usual… Maybe I shouldn’t bother him when he’s working,” Lest told himself before stepping away from the office door, heading towards the last section of the town.

Similar to the west side, the eastern side of the town was so quiet that only the sound of water was heard. The buildings had their lights turned off, signifying that the people living inside had already fallen asleep. Lest let another tired yawn and decided to walk back towards the town square and into the castle as he had started feeling tired himself.

Lest stood in front of the castle for a moment and looked up at the huge building that he had been living in, “I’m home…”


	3. A Day in Selphia

The morning sun shone brightly, indicating a sunny day ahead. The light of the morning sun went through the windows of the castle, waking the acting prince of Selphia from his slumber. The hazel-haired young man sat up on his big bed and stretched his arms and legs while letting out a big yawn.

Lest got off from his bed and walked out from his room, heading towards the east castle room where his kitchen was to start preparing breakfast for himself as none of the butlers came into his room with food. Using the available ingredients in his refrigerator, the only thing he could make for breakfast was only a small portion of fried egg. Lest set the plate on his dining table in the main room and sat down to enjoy his small breakfast, only to be interrupted by the sound of knocking on the door.

“Excuse me,” The door opened to reveal Selphia’s female dragon knight, “My apologies for coming early in the morning.”

“It’s okay, Forte,” Lest rose from his seat and walked towards the door where the female knight was standing and noticed the slight worry on her face, “Has there been trouble in town?”

“No, there is no trouble,” Forte shook her head and looked into the main room behind Lest, “Has Kiel been here? He wasn’t in his bed this morning…”

“No, I haven’t seen him today, I just got up myself. Did he leave a note on his desk or something? ” Lest asked in return.

“Well… I’m not sure… ” Forte replied with the feelings of uncertainty on her face, “He might have, but I’m afraid I shouldn’t be touching Kiel’s paperwork on his desk. There were sheets of paper on his desk this morning and this only happens when he is looking into something.”

“Hm…” Lest paused for a bit, recalling the fact that the light on the sibling’s house was turned on when he was taking a walk on the night before, “I think he’s looking in something since last night. I remember seeing that the light was on when I passed by your house last night.”

“Is that so?” Forte asked to confirm, getting a nod from the Earthmate, “I see… Thank you very much for letting me know,” Forte let out a smile before her smile turned back into worry, “If it’s alright, can I ask you to help me find him? I’m worried that he might get into trouble again…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll let him know when I found him. You can go back to patrolling the town,” Lest replied with a smile.

“Thank you very much for your help,” The worry on her face disappeared once again before Forte bowed slightly, “I shall be leaving then.”

“Yes, take care,” The female knight left the room and Lest closed the door before going back to his breakfast.

Lest finished up his breakfast and got ready before heading out towards the field through the door on the back of the main room. The Earthmate did the farming work which he had always been doing since the first time he arrived in Selphia. His enthusiastic pet monsters were helping him with watering the crops he had been planting while repaying all the love and trust Lest had been giving them. With the farm completely taken care of, it was time for Lest to head for the town and start looking for Forte’s book-loving brother.

Lest started his search with Bado’s shop where Kiel would come once in a while to learn forging from the older dwarf. The shop only had a few visitors as it was still quite early in the morning, but the owner of the shop had already started his daily attempts of earning easy money. Bado was standing behind the counter of his shop, while talking to his potential customers about what seemed to be a regular broadsword. Unfortunately for Lest, Kiel wasn’t in the shop after some looking around the building and Lest left the shop to find him in another possible place.

Lest walked towards the north side of the town, heading straight towards the next possible location near the end of the street. He stopped in front of the Sainte-Coquille Manor, where the actual prince lived and worked. He looked through the windows to see Arthur working on his desk with stacks of books and paper surrounding his desk. Moving a little to his right, Lest saw the one person he was looking for sitting on the guest’s chair.

Lest knocked on the door and got a reply from Arthur from inside, “Please come in.”

The hazel-haired Earthmate entered the building and closed the door shut, “Good morning, Arthur. Busy as always?”

“Ah, good morning,” Arthur returned the greeting with a smile, “Yes, but Kiel had been helping me with my research since last night.”

Lest turned to see Kiel, who had fallen asleep with his hands holding an open book. Lest let out a laugh and turned back to Arthur, “Yeah, and I can see that he’s been using his whole energy into research.”

“Without a doubt, yes,” Arthur let out a laugh, “Is there anything you need, Lest?”

“Not really, it’s just Forte who asked me to find Kiel,” Lest approached the book lover and tapped on his shoulder before slightly shaking him, “Kiel, wake up.”

Kiel opened his eyes drowsily and moved his shoulders in response before noticing a hand on his shoulder. Kiel looked up tiredly and saw the person who had woken him up, “Oh, it’s you Lest…” Kiel closed the book that he was holding and put it on the small table in front of him before he stretched out his arms, “Wait, how long have I been sleeping here?”

“I don’t think that’s important,” Lest let out a laugh, “Anyway, Forte was looking for you, you know.”

“Oh, is that so?” Kiel rose to his feet and took the book he had been holding previously, “I better get going then. Thanks for letting me know!” Lest turned to Arthur, who had gone back to his own work, “I’ll let you know when I find something else from the book.”

Arthur noticed Kiel’s voice calling out to him and looked up from his desk with a smile, “Yes, thank you for your help.”

“I’ll see you later,” Kiel turned to Lest once more before he took off from the office.

“I’ll be going as well, Arthur,” Lest turned to Arthur, who noticed Lest’s calling as well, “And please don’t forget to get some rest.”

“Ah, yes…” The blond prince let out a nervous laugh, “Take care of yourself as well, Lest.”

“I will,” Lest finally said before leaving the office. Lest stood in front of the door for a moment until he remembered about what happened at the night before, “Right, I’ll go and ask Amber about where she was from last night.”

Lest went south from the building, heading towards the Melody Street, and straight towards the building in the south. The hazel-haired young man heard the bells at the door rang as he pushed the flower shop’s door open. The green-haired Guardian’s small figure was covered by the blue-haired man’s bigger figure, but it was unusual for the blue-haired Guardian to be visiting the Carnation’s.

Lest was about to call out to the two Guardians in the room, but the tension in the room had prevented him from interrupting. The Earthmate stood beside the shop’s door, trying to listen in to the conversation while keeping himself unnoticed by the two other people in the room.

“Is there a way for us to open that door?” Dylas asked with a serious face.

The shorter Guardian shrugged in response, “I dunno, I just got told that I wasn’t qualified,” Amber replied with a confused look on her face.

“You weren’t qualified?” Dylas asked to confirm, getting a nod from the shorter Guardian.

“Gotta have the determination to open it. It’s the proof you can change the world,” Amber let out a disappointed sigh, “But my determination isn’t the right kind…”

The blue-haired waiter let out a sigh, “I can’t even picture it…”

Both Guardians let out a sigh and thought silently before Lest stepped into the scene from behind Dylas, “Hey, is something going on?”

“W-Wha?” Dylas was surprised to see Lest standing next to him as he was focused on thinking, “No, it’s nothing. I’m leaving.”

Lest turned as Dylas was leaving, _‘He’s the same as always…’_

“Welcome, what do you need today?” Amber’s usual cheerful voice grabbed Lest’s attention back.

“Amber, did you happen to go somewhere last night?” Lest’s question turned the smile on her face into confusion.

“Last night?” Amber turned to look at the ceiling, trying to remember what had happened, “I was in bed…?”

Lest looked at the Guardian in confusion, “You didn’t go anywhere out of town? I thought that I saw you walking from outside the town gates last night,” Lest noticed that Amber was more confused than he was.

“No, I don’t remember going anywhere… Ah, I know!” Amber’s confused look turned into a smile, “If it’s a case of having another me in this town, maybe Ellie can help you!”

_‘Maybe not…’_ Lest laughed nervously at the thought, “I guess I was too tired last night that I started seeing things. Okay, I’ll get going then.”

“Okay, please come again!” Amber replied with a smile before Lest walked towards the door.

Lest let out a sigh and looked back at the memory in which he saw someone looking like Amber coming through the gate, _‘But I’m sure that was her…’_ Lest paused for a few seconds before letting out another sigh, “Oh well, it could be just my imagination…” Lest looked up at the sky, seeing that it was around noon already, “The monsters should already be done with their chores, so I guess I should head back and put them back into the barns.”

Lest started walking back towards the castle and went through the middle gate heading towards the dragon room as he usually did even when the Native Dragon was still well and alive. Once he entered the room, he noticed a glimpse of red and purple within the room. He turned to the side of the room and found the third Guardian he had saved talking with her ghost friend.

“If that’s the case, would she just end up just like you?” Dolce asked her friend beside her.

There was a slight uncertainty in Pico’s eyes before she answered, “That’s… possible… But if it is, why can’t she stay here?”

Dolce turned to Pico, “Would it have something to do with regrets? If she didn’t have anything to regret, there would be nothing to tie her here, correct?”

There was another pause from Pico before she nodded, “That’s possible, but again … remember, she’s different from us normal mortals,” Pico noticed the disappointed sigh coming from her friend and let out a smile, “I expect you wish to know how much different, correct?”

Dolce gave her a nod, “Yes…” The Guardian turned to the entrance of the room as she was about to leave and was surprised to see the Earthmate standing by the entrance, “Lest! Y-You’re here!”

“Sorry, but I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on you two,” Lest said as he walked towards the two, “Is there anything I can do to help? And who is this that you’re going to bring back?”

Dolce let out an annoyed sigh, “Idiot,” With a short comment, the female Guardian continued her walk out of the room, leaving her ghost friend.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Lest turned to see Pico, who was looking at him with a serious face, “If you’ve heard us talking, you should be able to find out who we’re talking about,” The statement Pico had made before she disappeared from the room made him even more confused.

“Something is going on, and I think the Guardians are working on it together…” Lest paused for a moment, trying to connect the pieces of the puzzle together, only to lead him into another dead end, “I still don’t get it…”

Lest put the mystery behind him and continued towards his field which had been completely watered. The Earthmate went to his shipping bin, which was located at the other end of his field, to make sure that the crops harvested by his monster pets were all there. Once everything was clear, Lest led the working monsters back to their respective barns and brushed them as part of the reward.

With the monsters secured on their barns, Lest’s work for the day was finished. After stretching his arms up, Lest headed towards the northern exit from his field and into the northern part of the town. The Earthmate walked towards the red building at the west corner of the town, which was the town’s inn. After a few hours of walking around town and working in the fields, it was time to reward himself with a long, relaxing soak in the hot water.

Lest headed towards the men’s bath once he had paid for it, getting into the relaxing hot bath to relax his muscles. Soon after, two more people joined him on the other end of the men’s bath while having some serious talk. Looking through the hot bath’s steam, Lest noticed that the two people were Leon and Barrett, who had come to visit Selphia for the day.

“It’s not about the materials or the money,” Barrett’s voice was heard, “It happened to be fluke I managed to make one the first time. I don’t remember how I made it in the first place.”

“I see…” Leon’s reply with a disappointed voice was heard, “My apologies for asking the impossible.”

“Why do you need the Homing Ring? I’m sure Lest can already use the homing spell because he’s an Earthmate and Earthmates tend to have that ability,” Barrett replied with a question.

“You mean Omni Gate?” Leon asked, getting a nod from the brown-haired teacher, before he shook his head, “No, I think the power of that spell will be too much to handle at once, especially when you know who you’re trying to bring back.”

“I see,” Barrett let out a small smile, “I guess you can find people willing to do the insane just about anywhere.”

“Oh?” Leon responded while feeling a bit surprised.

“Yeah,” Barrett nodded, “It’s probably wise not to attempt that spell. Lest tried that once before, but the rune energy just… exploded…” A sigh came out from Barrett’s mouth, “It’s too dangerous. We got lucky last time, but we can’t be sure the next time we would be as lucky.”

Lest had heard parts of the conversation, and things were starting to make sense to him, _‘Venti…’_ Lest let out a sigh and continued relaxing in the bath a few minutes longer before he left the bath and got dressed. He left the inn and headed back towards the castle as he had finished his work for the day.

He stood by the door to his room for a moment and lowered his head, thinking about the things he had heard from the Guardians that day, _‘There’re trying to bring back Venti…’_ Lest raised his head back, _‘Let’s see if I can get some more information tomorrow…’_


	4. Lunch Date

**-First Person POV-**

_I’m standing in the dragon room again and I feel hurt and sad in my chest. I’m looking up at my dragon friend, whose body is slowly losing its color every passing second. Tears are falling from my eyes, knowing that I might never see Venti anymore. What about my memories? She already did give me a lot of memories here by letting me stay in Selphia. Whether they’re sad or happy memories, they’re all within me. Maybe these memories are much better than my original memories being brought back._

_My callings aren’t changing anything. I ask her to stay, but yet she insists that it’s her time to go. Don’t you have a choice to stay, Venti? To stay here, in Selphia, with the other townspeople. Stay with the Guardians. No, stay here with me. For someone I’ve known for only a year, I feel like I’m losing a childhood friend I’ve been spending time with for years._

_I feel powerful for defeating Ethelberd and saving Venti, but seeing how she’s slowly losing her existence in front of me makes me feel so powerless. She’s given me a home, a job, and even a title as the prince, but I can’t do a single thing to help her in her case. No, I never even know she has been feeling all this time. Getting weaker and weaker as I release more Guardians… It’s something I’ve never imagined feeling. I only know how to fight them and bring them back for the sake of goodness, only to bring suffering to her._

_My hands can only grab the empty air in front of me, missing the dragon god who lives in there. The dragon god who is my friend, my first friend that I remember. Now, that friend is gone. Gone and there’s nothing I can do for her. Nothing to be done to help her. I fall to my knees as I hear footsteps coming into the room from behind me._

**-Third Person POV-**

“Venti!” The hazel-haired Earthmate suddenly got up from his bed, surprising the purple-haired butler who was going to wake him up.

“Whoa!” The sudden movement had snapped the drowsy butler wide awake, making her almost jump back in surprise and dropping the food tray she was carrying.

“Oh…” Lest noticed the surprised look on his butler’s face, “Sorry about that, Clorica. I’ve just got some bad dreams, that’s all…”

“It’s okay,” Clorica walked towards the nightstand next to Lest’s bed and set the tray on it, “Here’s some apple pie for your breakfast. I hope this is enough to make you feel better.”

“Okay, thanks,” Clorica bowed politely before she left the room with her usual yawn.

Lest saw the purple-haired butler leaving and let out a sigh. The vision of his dream came back, which made him let out another depressed sigh. It wasn’t the first time he dreamt about his missing dragon friend as it was what he had been dreaming since the night Ventuswill left Selphia. He was the only one to witness her passing as the Guardians came after she had left. The Guardians, like Lest, had a bond with the native dragon, strong enough to be able to sense when Ventuswill was leaving.

He turned to the food tray on his nightstand and took it in his hands, staring at the apple pie placed on it. He knew dwelling on the past wouldn’t do him any good, but his heart was still hurting over the loss of his first friend. He slowly finished his meal and got himself ready before heading towards the main room. As he was walking towards the door to head for the town, his steps came into a stop in front of the pathway leading to the dragon room in the center of the castle.

Lest stared at the pathway for a moment before letting out a sad smile, “Maybe I’ll hang out in Venti’s place for a bit,” He turned to walk towards the dragon room instead and found that the room wasn’t empty that morning. A man with light blue hair was standing in front of the spot where Venti used to be, talking as if the original room’s occupant was there.

“… and it seems like Xiao Pai had just broken her own record of the most plates broken in a single day,” The man continued talking to himself before letting out a grin, “And it’s a great morning, you.”

“So you know that I’m here, Leon,” Lest walked up to the Guardian before letting out an annoyed sigh, “I already told you my name, so why are you still calling me ‘you’?”

Leon let out a small laugh, “You’re always fun to tease, aren’t you?” Leon’s smile turned into a frown as he closed the feather fan he was holding, “Hey, do you think it’s possible? For Venti to return here?”

“I… don’t know…” Lest let out a disappointed sigh, “I still don’t understand much about all of this… Earthmate stuff…”

“I see,” Leon turned to Venti’s spot once more, “I think I need some time here,” Leon turned his head to Lest and grinned slyly, “I’ll play with you some other time then.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Lest let out a laugh before heading to the town to gather some information.

Lest’s effort of trying to find some information led him going back to the castle empty handed. He had checked on the other townspeople he hadn’t asked the day before, but none of them seemed to have any idea. He had also tried checking on Kiel and Arthur, who were doing some reading together at the manor. As much as he wanted to ask the two, the serious looks on Kiel’s and Arthur’s face told him that it was best not to bother them.

With barely any new information, the hazel-haired Earthmate decided to head towards his fields and began working. Being used to tending his farm every single day for almost two years in Selphia, Lest managed to tend his crops while thinking about what he had learned the day before. A certain spell name came into his mind as he put his watering can down, stopping him from taking the hoe sitting next to the can.

_‘The Omni Gate spell…’_ Lest’s thought went back to the time when he was told to release the last Guardian, _‘If my incompetence was the cause at that time, then it should work this time…’_

Lest had been training by defeating the monsters around town for a while, thinking that his skill would become more and more useful as he trained more. Comparing his current skill with his skills back then, he felt confident that he had improved his abilities as an Earthmate and as a fighter. Even so, he couldn’t say for certain how far improved he was. Letting out a sigh, Lest knew that doing the spell carelessly wouldn’t do him good.

Lest had finished his work and looked around his field before stretching his arms, “Okay, I think I need a relaxing walk around town now,” The hazel-haired Earthmate left his field and headed back towards the castle’s front door, walking towards the west side of the town.

Meanwhile in one of the buildings on the west side of the town, a certain pink-haired woman had just finished mixing some medicine which a customer had requested. The customer took and paid the medicine before leaving the building. As the customer left, the woman let out a tired sigh and sat down on a nearby chair before her ghost friend popped up in front of her.

_“Dolly, are you okay?”_ The ghost asked while looking worriedly at her tired friend.

“I’m fine. Jones and Nancy should be back soon, don’t worry,” The woman replied before turning to the door as soon as it opened, “Welcome, how can I-”

“Hi again, Dolce,” The hazel-haired Earthmate came into the clinic with a smile, “I’m done with my work today, so I decided to come and visit you again for today.”

_“Ah, perfect timing! I think Dolly wants to see you again today!”_ Pico turned to see her friend with a smile, who glared at her before putting a talisman on her face, _“OUCH!”_

Lest let out a laugh after seeing the scene, getting Dolce’s attention, “D-Do you need anything?”

“Not really, I’m just visiting after working,” Lest stretched his arms up tiredly, only to have Dolce grab his right arm, “Huh?”

“Where did you get this scar?” Dolce pushed Lest’s arm lower, pointing at the sleeve which had been thorn to reveal a small scar, “Here, this one.”

“Oh, that? I think I accidentally scratched myself against the ironleaves when I was harvesting them today,” Lest rubbed the back of his back of his head in embarrassment, “I forgot to put some more distance when planting the ironleaves.”

“You can’t leave a wound open, big or small,” Dolce gently released Lest’s injured arm, “Wait here.”

The pink-haired Guardian walked towards the other side of the room and opened one of the drawers of the table with medical tools. Pico had recovered from the talisman attack she got earlier and approached the Earthmate who was watching Dolce digging through the drawer.

_“I know that she’s happy to see you again today,”_ Pico told the Earthmate, getting his attention, _“And she’s always been worried when she knows that you’re going out of town.”_

Lest laughed, “Yeah, I noticed.”

“What are you two talking about?” Dolce had returned while carrying some bandages, cotton, and her own sewing kit in her hands.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing,” Lest noticed the items that Dolce was holding, “Are you going to treat that scar? I don’t think it’s necessary, though…”

“Just to be safe, I’ll clean and bandage it for you,” Dolce turned to Lest with a smile, “You don’t need to pay me anything.”

_“Because a loving hug is… OUCH!”_ Before Pico could finish her sentence, Dolce had thrown another talisman to land on her head.

“Be quiet!” Dolce told the ghost, but her eyes hadn’t left Lest’s arm as she was bandaging him. With the bandage secured on its place, Dolce took her sewing kit and patched the thorn sleeve.

“Thanks!” Lest moved around his arms comfortably as the bandage didn’t restrict his movements.

“You’re welcome,” Dolce smiled and went to put the rest of the bandages and her sewing kit away.

“I guess… I can’t take you out today, huh?” Lest’s question had the Guardian’s attention, “I mean, you shouldn’t be leaving the clinic when you’re in charge, right?”

“We’re home, Dolly!” The door suddenly opened, revealing the older couple, “Oh, hello again Lest. Are you here to see Dolly?”

“Yeah, I was planning to take her out for lunch, but I can’t if she’s in charge right now,” Lest saw Nancy as she pulled Dolce to his side despite her protests.

“She’s free to go now, isn’t that right Jones?” Nancy turned to her husband with a smile.

Jones looked at Nancy in confusion for a moment until he noticed what his wife meant, “A-Ah, yes. In fact, she’s taking over my shift temporarily while we’re out for lunch.”

“And I think it’s been quite a while since the last time the two of you went on a date, correct?” Nancy looked at the younger couple, getting a nod from Lest but Dolce was looking flustered.

_“Come on, Dolly,”_ Dolce noticed that Pico was at her side, smiling at her, _“I know that you wanted to spend some time with him.”_

“T-That’s…” A slight blush was visible across her face as she looked at Pico, Nancy, and then Lest, “I… I’ll wait outside,” Dolce ran through the people in the room and headed out of the building.

_“Make sure you get her home safely too, okay?”_ Pico turned to Lest with a smile.

“Wait, you’re not coming?” Pico shook her head in response, “Okay, don’t worry about it.”

“Have fun in your date, you two!” Nancy told the Earthmate with a smile as he was leaving.

As Lest went outside, he noticed that the female Guardian was waiting beside the door, “Dolce, shall we get going?”

“O-Oh…” Dolce was surprised at Lest’s sudden calling before she recovered and smiled, “Yes,” Dolce took Lest’s hanging hand, surprising the Earthmate as he turned to her with a blush on his face. He smiled at her and held her hand while both of the headed for Porcoline’s restaurant.

It was already time for lunch, making the restaurant crowded with hungry people. The couple managed to get a table at the rightmost corner of the restaurant and had their order taken. While waiting for their ordered dish, Lest noticed that the smile she had when they were walking towards the restaurant had turned into a frown and she had started knitting instead of talking to him.

Just as he was about to say something, Dylas had come to their table with their ordered dishes, “Here’s your order.”

Dolce looked up at Dylas, who was looking at her with a serious face. Both of them nodded before the male Guardian left to get more dishes quickly before the chef of the restaurant himself devoured the customers’ orders. Lest saw the female Guardian in front of him had started eating in silence.

“Is everything okay?” Lest asked worriedly.

“I’m fine,” Dolce looked up from her plate and at Lest’s, “You should eat before the food gets cold.”

Lest knew that something wasn’t right when they entered the restaurant. He looked at his plate and an idea to get the Guardian to talk struck him. He took a spoonful of his dish and turned to Dolce, “Dolce,” The female Guardian responded to his call, “Say ahhh…”

“W-What…?” A slight blush returned to her face as Dolce noticed that Lest had a spoonful of food to give her. After a slight pause, Dolce leaned forward a little as Lest put the spoonful of food into her mouth.

“Well, is it good?” Dolce responded with a silent nod, still feeling a bit embarrassed, “I just want to lure you into saying what’s on your mind. But if you don’t want to say it now, I don’t mind waiting.”

“Lest…” Dolce gave him a smile, but it soon turned into a frown, “I’m just… still thinking about Ventuswill… and how to bring her back…”

“So am I,” Lest responded with a smile, “But I don’t think I’ll get anywhere if I let that thought affect my daily life.”

“That’s true,” Dolce nodded in agreement, “The other Guardians are looking into this as well.”

“Yeah, so let’s just take it easy and we’ll find our way to save her,” Lest replied with a smile.

“Thanks…” Dolce took a spoonful of her food, “Here, say ahhh…”

“Ahhh…” Lest leaned forward as Dolce put the spoonful of food into his mouth, “It’s delicious!”

“Isn’t it?” Dolce smiled before getting a spoonful for herself, “Let’s start eating before the food gets cold.”

“Yeah,” Lest nodded before he continued eating as well.

Once they had finished their lunch and paid for the food, the couple walked back towards the clinic with their hands locked. After they had reached the clinic’s door, the female Guardian turned to Lest with a smile, “Thanks for walking me home.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll be going now then,” Lest was about to let go of Dolce’s hand, but she was still holding his, “Huh?”

Dolce turned away for a bit in embarrassment before walking closer to him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, “Thanks for today.”

Lest, with a blush on his face, was still frozen in his place as he watched Dolce going into the building. Once he had snapped himself out, he let out a smile, _‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’_


	5. Memories

The hazel-haired Earthmate let out a yawn as he opened the door into the castle. The entire main room of the castle was dark from the darkness of the night in Selphia. Just as he passed the path leading to the dragon room next door, Lest heard some voices that made him stop on his tracks. Lest took a peek behind a nearby pillar and found some familiar faces within the huge room.

There were four people along with the child ghost standing in the room, gathering around the big platform in the middle of the room. The lanterns in the corners of the room shed some light into the room along with some faint light from the stars in the sky.

“We’re prepared for the possible consequences,” The tallest of the group, Leon, spoke up before stepping away a bit from the group, “We’ll go through it, even if it’s not what she wants,” Leon turned back to the group and closed his feather fan, “There’s a lot I wish to say to her, but I can’t tell her if she’s not here.”

The shortest girl in the group nodded and flashed her usual smile, “I think Venti’s gonna be happy to come back here. But if she isn’t…” Amber’s smile turned into a frown for a bit, but soon returned to her face, “I still think it’s only right that she comes back. This is her home after all.”

The man with light blue hair looked around at his companions, “For me, I still can’t accept the way things are. But I don’t have any logical reason behind it or anything,” Dylas turned away from the group, “I’m gonna make things the way I can accept.”

The ghost turned to her friend, “So what will you do, milady?”

Dolce turned to Pico and paused for a moment before turning away from her ghost best friend, “You know the answer to that question.”

Leon nodded and smiled, “Excellent, now let’s get down to business,” The smile on his face turned into a serious look as he looked at his fellow Guardians, “How can we bring Ventuswill home?”

There was silence in the huge room as the Guardians were thinking through the things they had found separately. Unknown to the five of them, the hazel-haired Earthmate had stepped into the room.

“Can I join in?” Lest’s call had surprised the people in the room as they had turned to the direction where he was, “I mean, I want Venti to come home. I have stuff to say to her too,” Amber and Pico stepped aside as Lest walked closer towards the big platform, “I want her to come home to this town, to us. I want to believe Venti wanted to stay with us, even when she said she never wanted this.”

Leon saw the determination on the Earthmate’s eyes and let out a smile before turning away and reopening his fan, “So it seems like we’re going to have to find out for certain, one way or another.”

Dylas nodded and let out a small smile, “I don’t think asking her straight out will get us an answer. She’s not like that.”

“But she can be awfully easy to read,” Amber added.

“True. What she thinks shows on her face quickly,” Dolce added with a nod.

_“Well, Lest? Will you help us too?”_ Pico asked the Earthmate, getting a confident nod as the answer.

“Excellent, now let’s organize what all of us know,” Leon along with the other Guardians turned to Dylas, “How was the gate to the Forest of Beginnings?”

“It’s close to Leon Karnak, just like Amber said. The question is, how to open it,” Dylas replied.

“We’re gonna need the determination to open it,” Amber added, “I heard it’s something like… proof of being able to change the world.”

“We were just going to go talk to Arthur to see what he knows,” Dylas continued, “What about you and Barrett?”

“He doesn’t know how he made that Homing Ring before,” Leon replied before letting out a disappointed sigh, “So right now there’s no way, aside from us attempting to make one ourselves, somehow.”

Dolce added with a frown, “I’ll do what research I can into other ways, but I don’t have any leads at the moment,” Her frown turned into a serious look, “Though I have heard that there’s a spell Earthmates might know for getting to the forest.”

The female Guardian’s statement caught the attention of the others in the room, “What does that mean?”

_“It seems there may be a way to resurrect her body by fusing runes into her new vessel,”_ Pico replied.

“Though that’s only a rumor we heard,” Dolce added before shaking her head, “It’s not certain.”

“So that leaves us with two options, the ring or the spell,” Leon summed up the whole discussion, “We have no leads for the ring, but what about the spell?”

The group turned to Lest, who noticed the sudden stares, “It’s the Omni Gate spell, right?” The name of the spell seemed to be familiar to the Guardians as they had surprised looks on their faces, “If the Homing Ring isn’t possible, let’s try-”

“No!” Amber cut off Lest’s statement angrily, getting the Earthmate’s attention, “That would be bad!”

“She’s right!” Lest turned to Dolce, who was also looking angrily at him, “You already tried that spell before going to the tower and it failed!”

Lest lowered his head and curled his hands into fists, “I know,” Lest looked back up with a determined look on his face, “but that doesn’t mean it won’t work this time.”

“Heck, you got lucky last time, but what if…” Dylas looked at Lest angrily, but his anger slowly faded into sadness, “No… I can’t let you do it.”

“No, none of us do,” Lest turned to Dolce, and then Amber and Pico, who had shown some concerns towards him.

“They’re right,” The hazel-haired Earthmate turned to Leon, “We can’t let anything happen to you. If we did, how are we supposed to face Venti or the other townsfolk?”

_“Exactly. Please don’t ever think of trying that again,”_ Pico added, making Lest uncurl his fists and let them drop to his sides.

Lest took a deep breath, while his determination hadn’t left his eyes, “No, I’m not giving up,” Lest looked at the surprised Guardians, “Even if people call me crazy and selfish, I’m still going to do it! I’m going to bring Venti back, no matter what!”

The room went dead silent for a moment, until Dolce’s annoyed sigh broke the silence, “Looks like there’s no stopping you and your crazy actions.”

“Huh?” Lest turned to the female Guardian, whose annoyed look had softened into a smile.

“It’s very much like you,” Lest’s eyes turned to Leon, “If you’re going to try it, I guess it’s safer to try it with us than doing it somewhere in secret.”

It was Pico’s turn to let out a sigh but also smiled at him, _“What are we going to do with you?”_

“Guys…” Lest returned the smile with confidence, which left Dylas and Amber in uncertainty.

“I’m still worried…” Amber’s concern was still visible on her face, “I can’t stop you if you really wanna do it.”

“Hey,” Lest turned in response to Dylas’ calling, “If… if there’s a hint of things going wrong, I’ll go and stop you, okay?”

“Okay,” Lest nodded confidently in response, washing off the gloomy atmosphere from the room. Lest turned to Leon who was standing across him, “I’m ready.”

“Good,” Leon closed his feather fan and walked towards Lest’s side as Lest walked to the middle of the platform.

The Guardians along with Pico lined up in front of the big platform with their backs facing the door heading to the town square. Lest stood in the middle of the platform, but still had his back turned to the Guardians. The five were looking at Lest while feeling confident, although their worries about anything that might go wrong hadn’t faded.

Some fidgety movement caught Dolce’s attention before she turned to the shorter female Guardian, “What is it, Amber?”

“Um… I was just wondering…” Amber spoke up, “How Venti must’ve felt when she, y’know… erased our memories. She must have a lot of things to say, but had to hold them in so she could erase our memories.”

Dylas let out a sad sigh, “She did that for us.”

Amber nodded in reply, “I know…”

Dolce heard the conversation and let out a sad sigh and held her hands together before noticing a tug on her dress. Pico was holding on to her dress, slightly pulling it as she looked up to her sad friend while trying to make her feel better with a smile. The Guardian didn’t say anything, only a small smile in response before she turned her attention back to the Earthmate standing in front of them.

“We’ll just have to apologize when she comes home. All of us,” Leon added, getting a nod from the other Guardians.

_“All right, Lest, if you please!”_ Pico told Lest, getting a nod in return.

Lest turned to face the Guardians with a determined and confident smile, “Right!”

**-First Person POV-**

I scan the room, looking at the Guardians standing in front of me. I can see that they believe that I can, so I mustn’t fail. I can’t let them down. I might not be able to cast this spell and bring Leon back then, but I believe that it’ll be different this time. I just know it’ll work this time. After all, I’ve improved a lot more since then and I know a lot about Venti to help me while casting this spell.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes while trying to gather some rune energy. Once I feel ready, I open my eyes and spread my arms out, “Omni Gate!”

A sphere of light formed in front of me and more rune energy started flowing into my body. I can see the sphere of light growing bigger and bigger as more rune energy flow into my body. The whole room started shaking from the overflowing rune energy in the room, but the strong structure of the castle building should be able to hold until I’m done.

As more and more rune energy flow into my body, the sphere of light is getting bigger and bigger. I look at the sphere confidently, knowing that I can still control this much rune energy without failing. I suddenly feel my confidence going away when I notice something wrong. I feel that something isn’t right and that kind of feeling is familiar to me.

I feel my body temperature is rising quickly while the rune energy is flowing uncontrollably. The sphere of light grows bigger a lot quicker and the huge amount of rune energy keeps on flowing. The sphere grows until it is bigger that the platform, only to have it shrunk down and disappear completely. The shaking becomes more violent, enough to make the Guardians start worrying.

“Lest!?” I hear Dylas and Dolce calling out my name.

The rune energy within my body becomes more violent, making me slowly lose my consciousness. I can’t control it anymore. The sudden rush of energy is still too much for me to handle and I release the rune energy that has gathered, only to have it explode in front of me. I feel my body hitting the floor and my vision going blurry. I see faint red and black blur as I fall, before I finally lose my consciousness.

_It is all pitch-black again. Yeah, so I did the spell again and yet failed one more time. Maybe I should’ve listened to them… But… what about Venti? How are we going to save her now? I… want to see her… I want to spend more days talking and bickering with Venti again… With my first friend, who is one of the Native Dragons…_

_I see a bright flash, and everything suddenly turns white. I try to look around, but I can’t feel anything. No, I can’t even see my body… Is this it? The Forest of Beginnings? Is this my time? But I feel like it’s not the same forest that I’ve been before. No, this doesn’t even feel like the forest at all._

_“Can you hear me?”_

_Huh? Was that Venti’s voice just now?_

_“… What, you’re asleep?”_

_There’s a short pause. Is that you Venti?_

_“… I guess this is for the best.”_

_The white surrounding fades and I see the view of the dragon room. But the only Guardian I see is Amber and… Venti?_

_“Amber…” Venti looks down on Amber, who seems to be a little injured and sleeping on the floor. She puts her head down, trying to take a closer look, before she smiles brightly, “It_ is _you, Amber! You still live! Thank the stars!”_

_Venti goes back to her usual position, but that smile of hers never leaves her face, “Oh, how long has it been, Amber?” Venti lets out a sad sigh, “I remember it all so fondly…”_

_Venti lowers her head once more, “Come, smile for me like you used to. Smile, smile!” Venti looks at the sleeping Amber expectantly, but quiet snoring is the only response she gets, “Amber…?”_

_Venti’s smile turns into a frown as she lifts her head and her voice turns into a whisper, “I want to see you smile again, but… should you remember me, it would only make you sad. That might lead you to think about wild plans to ‘rescue’ me again.”_

_Venti shakes her head slowly, pain showing on her face, “I won’t have that,” Venti spreads out her giant wings, which almost cover the whole room, “So I’ll seal away your memories, just your memories of me.”_

_Venti looks up at the sky and closes her eyes, “So please, smile for me, Amber. Brightly. Innocently. Just like you used to. That will be enough for me.”_

_Venti lowers her giant wings and lets out a soft roar, engulfing the room with bright light. Once the light dissipates, Venti has got back to her usual position on the platform and a single tear drops from her face, “… Goodbye, Amber. I will not forget you. I will not forget flying with you across the cloudless skies.”_

_The image of the dragon room fades into white and I hear Venti’s voice echoing in my head._

“… I will never forget.”

_The image of the dragon comes back once more, but with the sleeping Dylas lying in front of Venti. She looks at Dylas and snorts in an annoyed tone, “Well, aren’t_ you _sleeping like the proverbial baby?”_

_Venti gently lowers her right wing and pokes Dylas on the side of his face, “And what an adorable baby face you have, too, for all that you are a grump when you are awake. Are you certain you couldn’t do something about that?”_

_A sad sigh comes out from Venti’s mouth, followed by a whisper, “Not that you are the sort who would listen.”_

_“Earthmates and Guardians, you are all such a selfish lot. You insist on going about and doing me favors without telling me. You have no idea, do you? You cannot know what it feels like to be the one left behind,” Venti looks at the sky sadly, “You could never understand how heavy that guilt can be.”_

_There’s a short pause before Venti has her wings spread out and lowered, “I never knew myself. I had no idea it could be this hard to be left behind without a single word…”_

_Venti lets out another soft roar, followed by more bright light. Once the light disappears, Venti looks at Dylas sadly, “Goodbye, Dylas. You who call my name,” Another tear slides down from her face, “I remember your brusque voice. How could I forget it?”_

_The scene fades back once more, and I hear more of Venti’s thoughts._

“… I would never forget it.”

_The image of the dragon room fades back with Pico and Dolce in the room. Dolce is lying there on the floor while Pico is clutching to Venti’s scales, although she looks a lot weaker than before._

“Is Dolly all right?!” _Pico keeps on clutching to Venti, even on her weakened condition._

_Hiding all the weakness state of hers, Venti gives Pico a nod, “Of course, but there’s one thing I must do.”_

_Turning away from Pico, who has released her hands from Venti, Venti turns to look at Dolce,_ ‘Dolce, there are many things I wish to tell you. But I have been asked to watch over you only, nothing more.’

_Venti looks at her in exhaustion,_ ‘Besides… It seems I’m closing in on the last of my strength,’ _Venti looks up at the sky and spreads her wings,_ ‘So… I’m afraid I…’

_Venti lets out a soft, weaker roar, followed by bright light. Pico immediately runs to Dolce’s side, frantically searching her for any other signs of injury while Venti watches over the both of them,_ ‘I must say goodbye, Dolce. Be happy, because that is all your parents ever wanted of you. Even should the rest of the world forget, I will always remember.’

_Venti looks like she is about to fall from her lack of strength, but she lowers her wings enough to support her massive body,_ ‘So please… Please, Dolce. Be happy.’

_Another tear slides down from her face before the whole scene fades back into white._

“Forget me.”

_The image of the dragon room comes back, with Leon standing in front of Venti._

_“It seems the Earthmate stayed behind in order to save my life,” Leon tells Venti while fanning himself with his feather fan._

_There’s a short pause before Venti lets out a sigh, “I see. Now, there are many things I wish to tell you, but they will have to wait.”_

_Leon looks at Venti with a small smile, “You’re off to the rescue?”_

_Venti spreads out her wings, “Of course.”_

_Leon lets out an amused smile, “You are, as always, an amusing god.”_

_“Silence, you,” Venti gives Leon a glare for a moment, until her face softens and she lowers her wings, “I am simply fed up, nothing more.”_

_“Oh?” Leon raises one of his brows._

_“Yes. I’m sick of everyone leaving me behind to go off on their selfish missions to save me,” Venti responds._

_There’s a short pause before Leon speaks up, “Then hear one thing before you fly off.”_

_“What?” Venti looks at Leon in confusion._

_“The Earthmate who saved me told me to tell you this…” Leon replies._

_“Thank you for being my friend. It was fun,” I feel myself saying the same thing as Leon tells Venti about my message back then._

_Venti looks at Leon in surprise, but pain can also be seen from her face as she continues listening in to Leon’s comments, “That Earthmate was rather entertaining. Calling Ventuswill, one of the Four Native Dragons, a personal ‘friend’.”_

_Venti lets out a soft growl, “That fool…!”_

_“So is that ‘fool’ the one you chose for your current priest?” Leon asks, getting an annoyed sigh in response._

_“I abolished that irksome position centuries ago,” Leon responds with a laugh, “Even had I not, who would choose someone so selfish and headstrong as their priest?”_

_“Then what is this person to you if not your priest?” Leon asks._

_“I would say… much like you, I suppose,” Venti replies getting a surprised look on Leon’s face, “Like all of you who became my Guardians. You are all simply my friends.”_

_“Venti…” Leon looks speechless as he looks at Venti spreading her wings once more._

_“My thanks, Leon. It’s only by the efforts of you and the other Guardians that I am alive today. Not only that…” Venti pushes herself up and flaps her wings as she takes off before the scenes fades once more._

“I am no longer alone!”

_The scene fades back into white, and back to the dragon room. I see myself standing in front of Venti, who is slowly turning transparent. It’s the memory of the day when Venti left all of us._

_“Hey, Venti…?” I ask, looking up at my dragon friend, “Don’t leave us.”_

_Venti doesn’t respond to me._

_“Please, Venti. Don’t go away.”_

_There’s no response as well, but I hear her voice in my head._

“…No.”

_“It is time we parted,” Venti finally replies._

_I see that Venti’s body is starting to disappear, “Wait! Don’t go!” I run in panic and try grabbing her anywhere I can reach, but I can only feel like touching empty air._

_“Goodbye, Lest…” More of her body started disappearing until I can’t see her anymore._

“Were it my decision, I would not go. But I must.”

_“VENTI!!!” I call out into the empty room._

_“I was truly happy to have known you. Thanks to you, I could love another human being again… If, one day, our paths may cross once more…” Venti’s voice echoes in the room._

“…No… I do not wish to go…”

_“Then nothing would please me more than spending everyday bickering and joking with you again… Thank you, Lest… My last, best friend…”  I look around the room, still looking around the room for Venti to come back._

“I do not wish to be alone anymore. I do not wish to be left all by myself. I cannot stand it!”

**-Third Person POV-**

The four Guardians along with Pico and Lest were still in the dragon room. The explosion caused by the rune energy didn’t do too much damage, but it was enough to knock Lest unconscious. The hazel-haired Earthmate had his head on Dolce’s lap while the others watched over him worriedly until his fingers suddenly started twitching.

_“Dolly!”_ Pico shook her human friend’s arm, _“Lest is waking up!”_

“O-Oh!” As Lest started moving his body around slowly, Dolce helped him sit up next to her, “Are you okay, Lest?”

“Uh…” Lest looked around and saw the worried looks on the Guardians’ faces. With the help from Dolce and Dylas, Lest managed to get up on his feet, “Sorry… everyone…”

Lest spaced out for a bit, recollecting the images which had been shown to him when he was out cold. Dylas noticed him spacing out and gave him a pat on the shoulder, “What’s wrong?”

“I had a… dream. About Venti,” The worried looks turned into surprised looks on the others in the room, “It was when she had to erase all of your memories… and when she was disappearing, herself…”

Lest told the Guardians about the dreams he had about their dragon best friend, and how she never wanted to be alone. It was the answer that they had wanted to find about Venti, the fact that she had never wanted to leave them in the first place.

“It wasn’t just me,” A single tear slid down from Lest’s face, “It… it wasn’t just me…!”

“Yeah,” More tears fell from Amber’s  face before she ran over to Lest and hugged him, letting herself cry on Lest’s chest.

Dolce turned away from the others, feeling like crying herself, “How stupid can you be? Of course it wasn’t just you. Even I…”

_“Dolly…”_ Pico hugged her crying friend, before she wept herself.

The male Guardians watched the gloomy scene, but their pride had kept themselves from crying in front of the others despite how much they wanted to.

Minutes later, the room went silent after some cries and sniffles. Amber let go of Lest before she quietly left the room with some of her tears still remained in the corners of her eyes. Dolce was the next one to leave, with Pico trailing behind her quietly. Dylas and Leon finally left and Lest was the only one left in the room.

He might have failed again, but he knew that they wouldn’t just give up after knowing what their lost friend had felt all that time. After a few moments of silence, Lest let out a sigh and left the room, heading towards the town.


	6. The Guardians’ Feelings

The late summer breeze blew throughout the empty streets of Selphia at night. The hazel-haired Earthmate had been standing in front of the castle for some time, looking up at the castle’s roof. With the next season coming, the temperature had started cooling down and the leaves falling from the trees, blown away by the wind all around town.

Lest caught one of the blown leaves and looked at it for a moment before it was blown away from his fingers. Lest looked around the empty town square before turning towards the east side of the town, “This isn’t the end,” Lest reached for his chest where some green feathers from a charm given by his first friend was, “There must be another way to save Venti. We just have to believe it and try again. I need to check on the Guardians for now.”

Lest headed towards the Carnation where Amber had been staying since she woke up from her long slumber as a Guardian. Judging by the light coming from the side windows of the flower shop, the Earthmate could tell that at least one of the residents hadn’t fallen asleep yet. Lest raised a hand and knocked on the door a few times before the door opened to reveal the self-proclaimed detective of the town.

“Good evening, Illuminata. I’m sorry for bothering you at this hour, but I was wondering if-” Before Lest could finish his sentence, the older elf had cut him off.

“Is there an emergency mystery that needs me to investigate?” Illuminata reached for her monocle.

“N-No, is Amber-” Once again, Lest’s sentence was cut off in the middle.

“Is there something you need from my assistant?” Illuminata asked with a serious look on her face, but softens when she saw Lest sighing and shaking his head, “Hm? That’s not it either?”

“I’m here to check on Amber if she’s okay,” Lest let out a sad smile, “I don’t know if there’s anything I can do to help, sadly.”

“I see,” Illuminata looked at Lest confidently, “Worry not, the Great Detective shall uncover the truth behind Amber’s condition! Have a good night!”

With Illuminata’s last words for the knight, she closed the door on Lest's face, “Uh… thanks?”

In the building, Illuminata had walked up the stairs to the second floor and approached her friend’s door. Soft sniffles could still be heard until she knocked on the door, “Amber, are you okay?” There was no answer coming from inside, but the sniffles had stopped, “Let me know if you need me, okay?”

The younger female was lying on her bed in her room with her eyes wide awake. Hearing her elven friend outside her door worrying about her had stopped her from crying even more, just to prevent her from being more worried. The silence she gave her had left Illuminata with nothing else to do other than leave her for the night. The sound of footsteps was heard and was stopped by Amber’s response, “Thanks Ellie…” Illuminata smiled after hearing Amber’s response before continuing her walk towards her own room, finally turning in for the night.

Meanwhile in the restaurant, the male Guardians were sitting together on the table near the counter. It was already past closing hours, making it the best place for the two males to have a chat. A pitcher filled with milk was sitting on the table along with two drinking glasses on each of the Guardians’ sides. The glass on Leon’s side was left untouched, compared to Dylas’ glass which had already been empty.

“Once you stop crying, you fill yourself with milk. Interesting,” Leon let a small laugh while he watched Dylas pouring another glass of milk.

“There’s no way I’m crying, Sir Red-Eye!” Dylas glared at the older Guardian before finishing his glass of milk.

Leon’s smile turned into a smirk, “You’re one to talk, Mister Sniffle-Nose!” Leon let out a sigh before turning serious, “So, what now?”

“We can’t quit, that’s for sure,” Dylas poured another glass for himself and stared at the glass for a moment, “We all want her back while having our own reasons for her return.”

“True,” Leon nodded in agreement, “That and because she’s our friend.”

“Yeah…” Dylas finished another glass and poured more on his glass, “I don’t know how many centuries it has been for her, but I feel like it was just yesterday that Venti and I went fishing together,” Dylas looked at Leon with determination on his face, “We’ll do whatever it takes to take Venti back, even if we have to rip that dumb gate open!”

Leon nodded before fanning himself with his feather fan, “I agree.”

The restaurant door creaked open, getting the attention of the two Guardians in the room before Lest popped his head into the room, “Hey, both of you are here.”

“What are you doing here?” Leon asked as he saw Lest walking towards the table they were sitting on.

The Earthmate took a seat next to Dylas, “I’m checking on you guys. Are you two okay?”

“Hey, that’s what we’re supposed to ask you,” Dylas replied worriedly, “Is your body all right? Feeling better?”

“I’m okay, Mister Sniffle-Nose,” Lest replied with a laugh.

“Y-You heard that?” Dylas asked in embarrassment, getting a laugh from Lest and Leon.

“Since Sir Red-Eye said so,” Leon turned to Lest with an eyebrow raised.

“So you heard that too,” Leon commented before turning to the two, “Well, what should we do for now? You two know that we shouldn’t be giving up on Venti just like that.”

“We’ll wait for what Arthur finds,” Dylas replied, “I asked him to look into this too, so let’s hope that he finds something.”

“Right,” Leon nodded before turning to Lest with a sly smile, “Now you know what to do next, right? We’re doing fine here, but I think there’s someplace you’d better be right now.”

“Yeah, I know,” Lest rose from his seat and smiled, “I need to check on Dolce and Pico as well.”

“I wish I can eavesdrop on you lovebirds, but I think I’ll let you off this time,” Leon laughed mockingly before Lest sighed in annoyance.

“It’s better if you don’t eavesdrop at all,” Lest replied, feeling both annoyed and embarrassed.

“You better go now, don’t keep a woman waiting for too long,” Lest completely ignored Leon’s comments before turning to Dylas.

“I’ll get going now. Good night guys,” Lest left the building, leaving the two males on the empty restaurant once more.

“Those two seems happy together, don’t you think?” Leon turned to Dylas, who had finished half of his glass already.

“I thought those things aren’t your interest,” Dylas replied flatly, before his expression turned into worry, “Hey, Leon?”

“What is it?” Leon looked at the other Guardian questioningly.

“Do you feel anything strange lately? Like there’s someone or something calling you?” Dylas asked, but the expression on Leon’s face hadn’t changed at all.

“No, I don’t think so. Have you checked yourself at the clinic?” Leon replied with another question.

“Physically I’m okay, but I hear some voices echoing in my head sometimes ever since I come back from the ruins to get some materials to upgrade my fishing rod,” Dylas’ response started the silence in the room before Leon finally spoke up.

“That’s strange…” Leon put the feather fan he was holding on the table and folded his arms before leaning against the chair, “I heard Amber had been in that similar situation lately after returning from Yokmir Forest…”

“We’ll have to look into this, once we’ve got Venti home,” Dylas responded in a serious tone.

Meanwhile, Lest had made his way from the restaurant towards the clinic to check on the last Guardian, only to find out that Dolce and Pico had already left once more. Getting the vague directions Dolce and Pico had headed from Nancy, Lest excused himself and headed towards the lake where the two was supposed to be heading.

The first thing Lest noticed when he made it to the area was a figure in purple standing by the bridge leading towards the mansion’s back door. As the Earthmate approached, the figure noticed him coming and turned to him, _“Lest! You’re here!”_

“Pico?” Lest looked around the area, but he found no sign of Pico’s human friend anywhere until he noticed the worried look on the ghost’s face, “What’s wrong? Where’s Dolce?”

Pico turned to face the Obsidian Mansion’s back door, _“Dolly is in there, but she wouldn’t let me in…”_

Lest turned to the back door, “I should check on her then,” Lest turned his gaze back to Pico, “Come with me. I don’t think she’ll be mad if you come in with me.”

_“Uh…”_ Pico hesitated for a moment, before noticing the smile on Lest’s face that made her feel better, _“Okay, let’s go!”_

Lest and Pico went across the bridge before Lest pushed the old wooden doors open to reveal the biggest room of the mansion. Two lanterns had candles within them to help with the room’s lighting, although the old chandelier hanging from the ceiling provided most of the room’s lighting. The old tables and chairs were still in their places throughout the room, surrounding the place which seemed to have been a big stage many years in the past.

Colorful runeys were flying around the room, giving the warm atmosphere despite the old, run-down look of the room. The ghost and the Earthmate approached the big stage, where a single familiar figure stood in the middle of it with her back turned to them. Even once the two of them was near the stage, the figure stood still as she didn’t notice the uninvited guests coming for her.

“Dolce,” Lest called out softly and worriedly, “Are you okay?”

Dolce turned around and saw her ghost best friend along with her boyfriend standing just below the stage, “Pico? And Lest?”

“What are you doing here at this hour?” Lest climbed on to the stage to join Dolce, while Pico simply floated to Dolce’s side.

“I…” Dolce opened her mouth to speak, but turned her head to avoid eye contact, “I just want to be alone here, that’s all…”

_“Milady felt sad that we still can’t bring Ven back even after everyone worked so hard to find a way,”_ Pico explained.

Lest turned his attention from Pico and back to Dolce, who had a slight sadness on her face, “I knew it…”

The female Guardian slowly moved from her spot and walked a few steps towards the back of the stage to reveal the floating rune sphere Lest had previously placed, “Have I told you before?” Dolce’s voice turned into a whisper, “That day, when I decided to become a Guardian to save Venti… I only thought of saving her, nothing else…”

_“Of course, I was against the idea,”_ Lest’s attention turned to Pico, _“I understand how Ven means to Dolly, but I can’t imagine living so many years without her…”_

“Initially, my parents were against it as well,” Dolce continued while looking at the floating sphere, “However, this has always been my choice. By becoming a Guardian I can save Venti, whom I always consider as a precious friend other than Pico. This is the place where I had been sending rune energy to Venti for hundreds of years.”

“Although that choice seems to be a hard one for Pico and your parents…” Lest added before his expression turned into sadness, “Even for Venti…”

“So this is how it feels…” Dolce’s voice turned into a whisper, “To be left alone, knowing that precious friend might never come back…”

“But she will,” Dolce and Pico turned to Lest, whose sadness had turned into seriousness, “We will bring her back, no matter what.”

_“Wait, you’re not thinking of doing that again, are you?”_ Pico asked in a serious tone.

“I can feel that it’ll work next time, I just need to train harder and-”

“No,” Dolce’s short but stern response had cut Lest’s sentence and the two turned to the female Guardian, “We can try other ways, but I cannot allow you to risk yourself like that again,” Dolce’s eyes once again avoid contact with Lest’s, “What if… if things turned out to be worse the next time? I… I don’t want to lose you too, you know…”

Lest noticed a shade of pink across her face before he nodded and smiled at her, “Okay,” Lest walked closer to Dolce and gently grabbed her shoulders while trying to look at her in the eyes, “Rest assured, I’ll always be by your side.”

Dolce looked at Lest in surprise, before she let out a smile, “Yes…”

Pico let out a fake cough, _“I’m still right here, you know!”_

The two of them turned to the frowning ghost girl, back at each other, and noticed the distance between them before Lest let go of her shoulders in embarrassment, “S-Sorry.”

There was a short pause before Dolce turned her head slightly to look at the embarrassed Earthmate, “You should be, you idiot,” The Guardian’s response had confused Lest while Pico was grinning slyly.

“Huh?” His embarrassment slowly turned into confusion as he saw Dolce’s expressionlessness.

Pico let out mocking chuckle, _“Milady is just jealous when Amber happened to hug Lest back in the room.”_

“Is this another way of you asking to die again?” Dolce questioned the ghost with a smile, but the smile was terrifying enough for Pico to slowly back away.

_“Uh… gotta go now!”_ Pico quickly flew away before Dolce could grab her and went straight through the mansion’s doors.

“That pervert…” Dolce’s smile had faded, feeling disappointed that she couldn’t catch the ghost before she got away.

“I think I can see that you’re doing okay now,” Lest stated with a chuckle, getting Dolce’s attention, “Shall we head back?”

Dolce nodded and smiled, “Yes.”

Lest easily went down from the stage before offering a hand to the female Guardian, “Now, give me thy hand, milady.”

The pink color returned to her cheeks, “Knock it off, idiot,” Dolce hesitated a bit before she took Lest’s hand and went down the stage. Still having her hand in Lest’s, both of them walked towards the doors to leave the mansion.

_“… come… give me…”_

The strange voice had surprised the female Guardian, who let out a gasp before stopping her tracks and turned to look at the rune sphere. The loud gasp had gained the attention of the Earthmate, who watched as the female Guardian looked at the rune sphere while clutching her chest. Lest approached Dolce and tapped her shoulder in worry, slightly startling the Guardian.

In response, Dolce turned to look at the worried face of her Earthmate boyfriend, “There’s…” Dolce turned back to the rune sphere, which was still floating normally with colorful runeys flying around in the room, “Nothing. Let’s head back.”

“Okay…” Lest replied while still feeling that something was wrong, but decided that it was best for them to head back.


	7. To the Forest of Beginnings

It was early in the morning and a blond man stood in front of the door leading to the biggest building in town. He was holding an old book in green hard cover in one hand while he raised his other to knock on the door a few times.

“Lest, are you awake?” The man knocked on the door once more before the door opened and the hazel-haired Earthmate popped his head from inside.

“Arthur? Good morning…” Lest let out a tired yawn.

“Forgive me for coming so early,” Arthur apologized, “May I ask you to come to the dragon room? I have an important discovery to tell you along with Leon, Dolce, Dylas, and Amber.”

“Me and the Guardians? What kind of discovery?” Lest asked while rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“The way to open the gate to the forest,” Arthur’s answer had stopped him from rubbing his eyes, which had their tiredness washed away.

Turning to Arthur with a serious look, Lest gave him a nod, “I’ll be there, let me get ready first.”

“Very well. I shall tell the others for now,” Arthur left the building, leaving Lest to get himself ready before gathering with the Guardians in the dragon room.

Once Lest got into the room, the Guardians except Amber had already arrived in the room. He looked around the room while feeling the gloominess from the previous night hadn’t gone completely. Even so, Lest could tell that none of them hadn’t given up on their best friend. It was their strong wish to see their dragon friend once again and to live their lives with them the way they weren’t able to before that made them keep on hoping for a way. And now, that strong wish might soon come true at the hands of a certain Earthmate.

“Hey,” Lest turned to the source of the feminine voice, “Did you sleep well?”

“Good morning, Dolce,” Lest greeted with a smile, “Pretty much, yeah… So did you?”

_“Dolly was so happy that she slept with a big smile-”_ Pico, who had been on the female Guardian’s side for a while, had herself pulled back forcefully by the embarrassed Dolce before earning herself a talisman on the face, _“OUCH!”_

Seeing the two’s regular antics had made the Earthmate laugh, “I can see that things are looking better between you two.”

“You’re looking better yourself, Lest,” Dylas commented with a smile.

Lest gave him a confident nod and smiled, “Yeah, I guess a good night sleep helps,” From the corner of his eyes, Lest noticed a sly grin on the older Guardian standing next to Dylas, “I hope you’re not planning to start teasing anyone again after recovering from last night.”

“You and your lover should have been recovered much better than us singles,” Leon looked at Lest and Dolce while slightly covering his sly grin with his fan, “Did something interesting happen last night?”

“I-It’s none of your concern!” Dolce turned away in embarrassment.

“I only checked on her and talked, that’s very much it,” Lest replied before letting out an annoyed sigh, “I don’t know if that’s interesting enough for your amusement, but that’s pretty much everything.”

Leon was about to respond further, but stopped once he and the others saw Arthur coming along with a sleepy Amber, “I’m sorry for the delay, everyone.”

“Good morning everyone,” Amber greeted the people in the room with a slight smile before joining the others.

“So, what’s your solution for the gate?” Dylas asked bluntly, “How do we open the gate to the Forest of Beginnings?”

“I happen to bring the key with me today,” Arthur reached for the pocket in his garb, pulling out a spherical object which glowed in bright blue color. The familiar object left the people in the room in surprise.

“A rune sphere?!” Lest asked in surprise.

“Yes,” Arthur nodded before walking towards Lest, “And you should be the one to have it.”

“Me?” Lest took the sphere in his hands and looked at it in confusion, “But why me?”

The prince opened up the book he was carrying and started reading, “Everything in this world has the power of runes, including us living beings. All those runes will eventually return to the forest,” Arthur paused to look up at the Guardians, “Even the Native Dragons such as Lady Ventuswill would return as well. But her time of return was delayed because of the rune energy from the Guardians.”

“And the rune spheres can generate that rune energy,” A voice was heard from outside before the speaker came into the room.

“Kiel? You’re here too?” Leon recognized the newcomer, getting a nod from Kiel.

“The rune energy generated from the rune spheres is as much as the rune energy generated by all of you Guardians,” Kiel finished his explanation before letting out a long sigh before turning to Arthur, “Arthur, why did you just come running the moment we found that conclusion?”

“I’m sorry, I was so excited that I couldn’t help myself,” Arthur replied with a smile before turning to Lest, “Other than that, the power to change the world might relate to the power of Earthmates. Lest, will you do it?”

Lest gave Arthur a confident nod, “I will. I’m going to bring Venti back.”

“I know you can do it, Lest,” Kiel gave Lest a thumbs up, getting a nod from Lest.

“I know I will,” Lest turned to the Guardians, “Everyone, I’ll leave the town in your care.”

“Don’t worry about us,” Dylas flashed his rare but natural smile, “Both of you better come back here alive, you hear?”

Lest let out a nod, earning trust from the people in the room before they left to start their regular activities for the day. Just as Dolce and Pico were leaving along with the others, Lest suddenly grabbed her wrist, “Dolce, can I talk to you for a bit?”

“Huh?” Dolce stopped in her tracks, turning to the Earthmate, “What is it?”

“Uh…” Lest nervously let go of Dolce’s wrist, “I-If you have some time after this is over, will you meet me in the observatory?”

_“Lest and Dolly, alone?”_ Pico asked while looking at the Earthmate in confusion.

“W-Well, you can come too if you want,” Lest gave a nervous reply before turning to Dolce, “So, how about it? You can say it’s like a date.”

“It’s not really one if this waste of air is there,” Dolce replied flatly before giving him a smile, “But I suppose I can spare some time for you later.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later then,” Dolce nodded and left, but Pico was still left staring at Lest, “What is it, Pico?”

_“I think I know what you’re planning,”_ Pico replied with a smile before winking, _“Dolly is a delicate lady, so don’t you go breaking her heart, okay?”_

“I won’t, I promise,” Lest replied with a smile.

_“Good luck and be safe!”_ Pico waved a goodbye before disappearing, leaving Lest on his own in the dragon room.

Lest exhaled loudly in order to keep himself together before walking back towards his side of the castle. He went towards his storage box which was resting near the door to the fields and opened it to grab his equipment. He grabbed his favorite short sword, which had the blade shaped like it was blown by wind, and sheathed it in his sword sheath strapped to his belt.

Before closing it, Lest put his hand back into the box while searching through the items and weapons he had spent hours crafting until a bright colored accessory was within his reach. He pulled the accessory, which was a ring made of gold with a small diamond fitted in the middle. He closed the box before looking at the ring with a smile on his face.

_‘This ring represents my feelings for you. I hope that you’re ready to accept me as part of your family now,’_ Lest headed towards his room, putting the ring in the drawer in the nightstand by his bed. With the ring safely secure, Lest finally set out to the airship and headed towards Leon Karnak.

The big airship hovered down slowly as it was close to its destination before coming into a full stop at the height safe enough for Lest to jump down. Lest put his right hand on his sword’s hilt while scanning the ground for any signs of monsters before cautiously making his way towards the huge gate-like rocks between the tower’s feet.

Lest checked his surrounding once more before putting his blades back and pulled out the rune sphere he had in his pocket. He lifted the stone above his head and the ground slightly shook before two familiar voices were heard echoing in his head.

_“Thou are qualified, Earthmate,”_ A female voice was heard.

_“Thou hast shown us proof,”_ A male voice was heard.

The ground shook once more as the two huge rocks acting as gates slowly slid open, revealing the white surroundings of the forest. Wind slightly blew from the forest while colorful flowers and grasses kept on floating in the middle of the white surrounding as if the wind hadn’t blown at all. Taking a deep breath, Lest took the stone back into his pocket and stepped into the familiar white nothingness where he had been into in the past.

Lest felt himself walking through the forest, but the unchanging surroundings would have easily made people feel like they were lost. It was the same things left and right, no matter where you were walking, but there was one thing that had kept Lest on his tracks. There was one different thing that the Earthmate had noticed the minute he came into the forest. That blowing wind within the forest had the familiar presence he had known for a while.

“Venti…” Lest spoke up, before the colorful leaves started swirling in front of him. As the leaves started swirling, some voices were heard echoing throughout the forest.

_“That young man knows that time is running out. The wind dragon is growing weaker, thus we cannot afford to lose more time. Our only choice is to fuse him with the Earth, sending rune energy to Ventuswill. That man is an interesting young one, unlike the previous dragon priests I have known. His strong desire does not come from his duties, instead from his bonds with that dragon. For his sake, I truly hope my children and grandchildren will continue my research to restore the runes. I have grown too old, Leon, but I hope my family can help your friend in the future. No matter how many generations it shall take. This is my vow.”_

“Leon…?” Lest looked at the swirling leaves closely and saw a blur of brown and green before the leaves were blown away, floating normally as if nothing happened, “What… happened…? Was that… an Earthmate who knew Leon?”

Lest slowly started walking, heading towards the place where the leaves were swirling before and was greeted by more blowing wind. More leaves came into his way, floating in circles around him before a vague figure resembling a woman with short dark green hair came into view.

_“I never understand her. She has a loving family and a ghost as a loyal friend. Yet, her decision lies on saving Ventuswill. Without a doubt, her parents must have felt the same as Ventuswill when she told them she would be a Guardian. It hurts me to see how sad Ventuswill was when I told her of Dolce’s decision once I cast that spell on her. That spell my family had been studying for generations should be able to take care of this problem, so that woman doesn’t need to leave her family. I just can’t finish my research in time…”_

The figure slowly disappeared, leaving Lest to chase empty air as the leaves had flown away, “Wait! You… you’re the Earthmate who turned Dolce into a Guardian, aren’t you?” He paused for a moment, but the answer he wanted never came into him.

Some colorful leaves blew across him, carrying a figure of a young man with short light green hair before disappearing as another different voice echoed in the forest.

_“He never does try to escape. From what I hear, the king even ordered to leave as many openings as the soldiers could, so that Dylas person could escape. But he asked me to help his friend instead, thinking that him leaving was like a fishing trip. The new solution my family comes up too late, because that kind of concept needs to be proven. That proof lies in the Forest of Beginnings, but even our best Earthmate can’t open the gate. We only need to open the gate so that we can prove our theory, but it’s impossible when we can’t even get there.”_

“It’s… the Earthmate from Dylas’ time…” Lest whispered before closing his eyes to process the things he had experienced since entering the forest.

The forest had reacted to Lest’s presence, telling him what the Earthmates who turned his friends into Guardians felt. He saw the vague figures of the Earthmates themselves, coming and leaving along with the colorful leaves in the forest. He never knew about all of it or about the Earthmates themselves. He had lost his memories and not a bit of them came into him, but the presence of the Earthmates he felt was warm and familiar.

Had he been living for a long time? No, Earthmates were also mortals, living their lives just like normal human beings. Even with Lest’s limited knowledge about Earthmates and their capabilities, he knew that he couldn’t possibly outlive human beings like elves or the native dragons. They had the ability to communicate with the Earth, not the ability to be an immortal. And yet, he felt familiar with the older Earthmates from hundreds or even thousands of years before he was born.

Leaving the confusing thought, the hazel-haired Earthmate continued his search for his dragon friend. His search came into a stop once again, when a much clearer figure of a green-haired girl appeared in front of him.

_“Big sis came to Selphia as an orphan, and Ven was the first one to find her. She has the most cheerful smile that can earn the hearts of many people, but her innocence is what makes me like her big sis instead. Big sis and I spend a lot of time with Ven like a real family, until Ven collapses in exhaustion. My family can’t save her yet, so big sis volunteers to be a Guardian to save her. Her decision is hard on me, but it’s her decision that makes my family able to continue and keep the vow to the Guardians. To create rune crystals and use them to save Ven. And for me, to save Big Sis Amber from her sleep…”_

Lest watched quietly as the figure slowly disappeared and more wind blew around the forest. He looked at the endless white nothingness in front of him while clutching the charm inside the inner pocket of his jacket. Lest closed his eyes while holding the charm and felt the blowing wind on his skin. The wind suddenly stopped for a moment and Lest felt as if cold air had passed through his body.

_“Lest…”_ A female voice was suddenly heard, though different from the ones he heard before.

“Huh?” Lest turned to his back, assuming it was the source of the voice.

The wind blew harder, making it harder for Lest to see who was calling his name. He caught a glimpse of green hair flowing with the wind and a smile on the face of a young woman he had never seen before the blowing wind had erased the young woman’s appearance.

The wind was blowing like it used to be, but the young woman’s disappearance had Lest wondered, “Who was that…?” Lest looked around, but only found the same scenery around him. He shook his head and turned back, “I don’t have time for this. I have to get to Venti.”

Lest continued his sprint until the familiar feeling from the wind was much closer. He could feel her presence from the blowing wind much better, knowing that his friend was nearby.

“Venti, I know you’re here,” Lest spoke up with a smile, “I’ve come to get you home.”

There was a short pause before the sound of a familiar voice was heard, _“Lest?”_ There was another pause, _“Go back. I never asked for this. This is not what I want.”_

“Is that how you really feel?” Lest asked with a frown, but he didn’t get a reply, “I know it’s not,” Lest let out a sad smile, “You’re not alone, Venti. I have a rune sphere to save you and a lot of people are involved in making it. Those people who all cared about you…” Lest took out the Rune Sphere, but he still wasn’t getting a reply, “Don’t you want to go home? To everyone in Selphia?”

_“Of course I do!”_   Ventuswill’s sudden reply came with a yell, _“But… I can’t have you risk your life by using that spell… Didn’t you hear it yourself? No human being can control a large number of runes at once!”_

Lest shook his head, “But I can’t give up. Not when I have the power to save you,” Lest lifted his head and closed his eyes while smiling, “The power that was born from the wishes of the Guardians, the past Earthmates, everyone in Selphia, me…” Lest reopened his eyes, “And you as well… It’s the willpower collected across generations…”

_“If… if I can…”_ Ventuswill responded hesitantly, _“Even if it’s just with you, I want to live in that town forever!”_

Lest let out a nod before lifting the stone he was holding above his head, “I’ll save you, Venti,” Lest closed his eyes and took a deep breath while gathering all the energy he could get, “Etherlink!”

Bright white light shone from the stone and spread throughout the whole forest. The blowing wind slowly disappeared, leaving the forest the way it was when Lest first came over a year ago. He released the Rune Sphere from his hands, leaving the stone to levitate in the middle of the forest while the light slowly disappeared from the forest. As the light disappeared, the stone started glowing with in bright blue color.

“Did… did it work?” Lest looked around the forest, but the scenery hadn’t changed at all.

Lest called out Ventuswill’s name many times, but his wasn’t getting any answer. Her presence couldn’t be felt in the forest anymore. Her wind wasn’t blowing anymore. He couldn’t tell if he was successful until he got out of the forest and headed back towards the town to see if his friend had returned.

Lest teleported out of the forest and hopped back into the airship, heading back towards Selphia. A frown never left his face as he got off from the airship, but the positive energy coming from the grateful passing villagers had washed away his doubts and disappointments. Bursting through the villagers, Lest went into a sprint right towards the dragon room. His curiosity had made him run through the Guardians, who were all waiting by the dragon room entrance.

The second he went into the room, he noticed the dark shadow over his head. He stopped his running and looked up while panting, seeing the familiar figure looking down at him. The familiar dragon whom he hadn’t seen for over a year, that first friend of him, and that one native dragon who made friends with humans.

“Hey, you were late!” Ventuswill told the Earthmate with a mocking smile, before she noticed the shocked look on his face, “What, did you forget my face already?”

A single tear slid down from his face, “Nope, did you?”

“I haven’t forgotten,” Ventuswill replied with a smile, “I’d like to discuss all those silly unimportant things with you just like before, but it seems like the whole town wants to celebrate my return first!”

“Right,” Lest wiped the tear from his face and laughed, “How about we talk while celebrating? Like the punishment you deserve for leaving your job of protecting Selphia?”

Ventuswill lowered her head to Lest’s level and glared at him in annoyance, “Should I eat you instead?”

“I’m not tasty even with the best seasoning!” Lest replied cheerfully before the two of them broke into laughter, laughing as if the events before had never happened.


	8. Popping the Question

It only took a few minutes for the word about Ventuswill’s return to spread throughout the town. The villagers who had heard about the news would immediately head towards the dragon room and see the dragon god, until the whole room was too crowded. Lest managed to escape the crowd and get out of the room to see the Guardians still waiting outside the castle.

“On behalf of the Guardians and the townsfolk, thanks for bringing Venti back,” Leon spoke up with  smile.

“You don’t have to thank me. You all did your part to help me,” Lest turned to the door leading to the crowded dragon room and smiled, “The townsfolk also helped us in gathering info, especially Kiel and Arthur.”

“Now that it’s over, I need to go back to the restaurant to help Porcoline,” Dylas stated, “We’re cooking a feast to celebrate, so it’s best for me to keep him from eating any of the dishes himself.”

Lest laughed at Dylas’ last comment, “Good luck with that.”

Dylas nodded and smiled before leaving the group, “Okay, later guys.”

“I should be going as well. I’m planning to give Kiel the thanks he deserves,” Leon let out his usual sly grin.

Lest let out a chuckle, “Whatever it is you’re planning, don’t make Forte come to you with her sword aimed at your throat like the last time.”

Leon shrugged in response, “It should be interesting enough for his sister to be interested as well,” Leon started walking away, “See you later.”

“Yay! Lest!” The sudden additional weight on Lest’s back had almost made him fall, “Ven is finally home!”

“Y-You’re right, Amber… Can you get off my back please?” Lest could feel Amber slowly getting off his back, but her usual cheerful smile never left her face.

“Ellie says that she wants to decorate Ven’s room with some flowers. Do you want to come with us?” Amber asked.

“Sounds great! I think I’ll…” Lest turned to see Dolce, who seemed to be looking at him with a slightly annoyed look, “Sorry, I have some other plans today.”

“Okay,” Amber nodded before she started leaving, “I’ll see you later.”

“When should we meet today?” Dolce suddenly ask.

“Oh, right…” Lest let out a nervous laugh, “How about meeting after your shift is over? I need to finish my work for today too, so how about it?”

“Yes, that should be fine. I’ll see you then,” Dolce gave him a smile before leaving Lest standing in front of the crowded room.

Seeing how Ventuswill was happy with the large amount of visitors had put Lest’s mind at ease enough for him to smile. He made his way back to the castle to swap the weapon he was carrying with the farm tools he had kept in the storage box. With the rune energy problem from thousands of years back finally resolved, life should be back to normal for him, Ventuswill, and the Guardians.

The sun was starting to set when Lest had finished tilling his field to prepare for the coming of autumn. He looked at the results of his work in pride before tiredly stretching out his arms and walked back into the castle building. He went into his room and opened his nightstand drawer, taking the precious item inside and into his pocket.

When he was walking towards the observatory tower, he stopped in front of the restaurant for a moment to enjoy the scenery. The orange color was painting the sky with some starting to get darker as it was almost night time. The wind was blowing the new dry leaves away from the streets and from the tree branches. When Lest turned to the direction of the observatory, he saw the familiar figure he was meant to see that afternoon.

Dolce was leaning against the observatory’s railing with her loyal friend hovering beside her as the wind blew her hair back and forth. Her hands were busy with knitting she was doing, completely ignoring the ghost hovering around her. She only stopped her knitting when the ghost stopped in front of her and spoke up something that made her look at the ghost in surprise and embarrassment.

After seeing the two started talking, Lest continued his walk towards the observatory and climbed the stairs leading to the top. His walk came into a stop in front of the door leading out to the top of the observatory when the voices of the two talking were heard. He carefully opened the door and saw that Dolce had put her knitting away and was looking at the sunset while Pico was hovering above the railing next to her, both looking away from the door Lest was using to cover himself.

“I suppose everything should be back to normal now,” Dolce spoke up while her eyes hadn’t moved away from looking at the sunset.

_“Yeah, it is,”_ Pico, who was floating next to her, had also set her eyes on the sunset view, _“Selphia is at peace again, Ven is home again… and you’re here too, Dolly.”_

Dolce nodded in agreement, “True. And it’s all thanks to that fool.”

_“That fool is the man you love the most, right?”_ Pico’s question had the female Guardian turn red, although her lips curved into a smile.

“After what he had done for us, how could I not?” Dolce looked up at the orange sky, “He made me realize that Mom and Dad have always been with us, waiting…”

_“And we have Jones and Nancy in this era too,”_ Pico let out a laugh, _“Aren’t you happy now, Dolly?”_

There was a slight pause as Dolce closed her eyes, “Yes I am,” The smile had never left the Guardian’s lips as the two of them were talking.

Lest, who had been listening to the whole conversation, smiled to himself before he accidentally pushed the door which let out a slight creaking sound, “Whoops…”

_“Huh?”_ Pico noticed the light sound and turned to see Lest hiding behind the door. Smiling, she turned back to her friend, _“I just remember that I left some food on the stove so… gotta go!”_

“Wait, Pico!” The ghost had slipped past her fast enough for her to ask what was going on, until she noticed the person hiding behind the door, “You were eavesdropping.”

“Sorry…” Lest came out from his hiding spot and walked to Dolce’s side, “But your eyes tell me that you’re glad I got to hear it.”

Lest’s comment and his smile had the red color return to her face, “Uh…”

There was silence between them with Lest staring at his embarrassed girlfriend. Dolce turned her head to try hiding her blush, but a slight touch on her face had her sight set on the Earthmate’s purple eyes. Her heart was beating even faster as she took his hand from her face and held it in hers before letting out a smile. This man was the one of the very few people she knew well who wouldn’t leave her even when she shooed him away. It was because he knew that she needed him despite saying that she wanted to be alone.

“Thank you,” Dolce’s voice came out as a whisper, but it was loud enough for Lest to hear it.

“Um… What’s this all about that you thank me for?” Lest looked at Dolce in confusion, making the female Guardian let go of his hand and give him a slightly annoyed look.

“Figure it out yourself, idiot,” Dolce went back to lean on the railing.

Lest saw as she approached the railing once more before he joined her as well, “Nice sunset, huh?”

“It is,” Dolce shortly replied, “The sunset is still nice after all these years.”

Lest responded with a nod, “Yeah…” He stole a quick glance at the Guardian on his right before reaching for the pair of white gloved hands sitting on the railing. The sudden touch had slightly surprised the female Guardian as she let out a small gasp while Lest held her hands gently. Nervousness came as Lest took a deep breath before he turned to look at Dolce in the eyes, “Dolce, there’s something that I want to tell you today,” Lest put his other hand on hers, “This is why I called you out here.”

Dolce saw at the serious look on the Earthmate’s face, “W-What is it?”

“I know that you’re happy to know that you still have a warm family even in this era,” Lest started with a warm smile, “I can say, you’re very lucky to have such a big and loving family you can call your own,” Lest took his hands from hers and had one of them back at the railing while letting the other hanging on his side as he looked up at the sky with a sad smile, “Me, on the other hand… I don’t remember anything but my name. I don’t even know if my parents are still alive or not or where they might be. But here I am, doing my daily life as if I never had a family of my own to find…”

There was a long pause as Lest started leaning on the railing while keep looking at the sky, which was starting to get darker at higher skies. The Earthmate let out a sigh before turning back to Dolce with his sad smile still on his face, “I’m sorry, it’s… something I’ve had in my mind for a while now…”

“That’s fine,” The response coming from the female Guardian had caught Lest in surprise, “I… I can relate to that, after living such a similar life when I first woke up.”

“I see…” Lest’s smile came back before his expression turned back into a serious one, “But if I can… I want to have a family, a real family I can call my own… So…” Lest took a deep breath and calmed himself down before looking at the female Guardian in front of him, “Dolce, will you marry me?”

Dolce looked at Lest in surprise, seeing that his proposal wasn’t a joke. Those were the words she had been hoping to hear for months and she had finally heard it. She held her hands together nervously before turning away from him, “Should I trust your words?” The serious expression on the Earthmate’s face turned into confusion, “They are just words. I can’t tell if your feelings for me are real.”

Lest’s hand went to his pocket, feeling the diamond attached to the ring in it, before he took his hand out from the pocket as he stood firmly behind Dolce, “I love you, Dolce,” The female Guardian stood still, hardly giving him any obvious reaction. Lest took a step forward and wrapped his hands around her slim figure, surprising the Guardian, “With all my heart.”

The pair of gloved hands held Lest’s arms, “You know that Pico will always be with me, right?”

Lest nodded and smiled, “She is an important part of your family, so I don’t mind.”

“Can I still consider Jones and Nancy as my family too?” Her gaze lowered to the floor.

“Yeah,” Lest brought himself even closer, “They even still considered you to be part of them after you keep pushing them away.”

“And what about my real parents?” Dolce’s grip on Lest’s arms tightened, “You never even met them.”

“I don’t mind at all. They’re all part of your family and I’ll be willing to have a big happy family with you,” Lest loosened his hold on Dolce’s waist, “I want to be there with you and protect you. I want to live and grow old with you. Although I know I might not be the best man in the world, I want to the one you choose to be yours.”

“Not the best one?” There was a short pause before Dolce let out a small chuckle, “Then it’s your fault that I choose you,” The female Guardian gently released herself from Lest’s hug while looking at him with a smile and teary eyes as she held on to Lest’s hands, “Please, let me hear those words again…”

Lest gave her a nod and smiled warmly, “Dolce, will you marry me?”

Dolce gave him a slight nod, “Yes.”

Lest lowered both of their hands, “Will you let me be part of your big family?”

Dolce gave him another nod before taking a step closer, “Yes. I will never let you go, not ever.”

The two closed their distance as their lips met in a kiss with the orange-colored sky of the sunset on the background. Once they broke the kiss, Lest took the ring from his pocket and slid it on Dolce’s ring finger before they locked in a tight embrace, enjoying each other’s body warmth.

“So…” Lest gently pulled away from the hug, “When should we hold the wedding ceremony?”

“The sooner the better but…” Dolce’s voice came as a whisper before she turned away in embarrassment, “No, never mind.”

“How about the day after tomorrow?” Lest suggested, getting Dolce’s attention, “That should be enough time to prepare for the ceremony, right?”

“Yes,” Dolce gave him a slight nod, “That should be enough.”

“Okay, should we go and tell Pico, Jones, and Nancy about our engagement?” Lest asked while offering her his hand to hold.

“You know that Pico already know about this, don’t you?” Dolce asked bluntly before turning back to the railing, “I can see that little pervert spying on us from the feet of the tower.”

Lest looked down from the railing and saw the ghost girl waving at him while staying near the restaurant building, “Y-Yeah, I guess…”

“Come, we should tell Jones and Nancy,” Dolce flashed him a small smile before taking his hand and left the observatory with him.


	9. The Night before the Wedding

A day had passed since Lest and Dolce declared their engagement to the people of Selphia. With both of them still have their daily jobs by the day, the villagers had helped with most of the wedding preparations.

The formal clothes had already been prepared by the castle staff as they had already had the traditional clothes for the weddings in town for many generations. The dinner menu for the ceremony was handled mainly by Porcoline and Dylas from the restaurant’s best selection with additional snacks made by other good cooks in town, such as Xiao Pai, Kiel, and Blossom. The decorative flowers were given out for free by Illuminata to decorate the town square and the streets where the couple would be walking through. Furniture such as tables and chairs for the dinner had already been ordered from the general store with some help from Bado. The entertainment section for the ceremony would be Margaret’s performance during dinner time.

The preparation day had been a long day for the both of them, but the preparations could be completed in time with the help from the villagers. It was a day of working in the morning and wedding preparation at the end of the day. With the preparations all set for the big day, Lest returned to the castle and headed towards the calendar hanging above the storage box.

“It’s tomorrow, huh?” Lest stared at the calendar for a few moments before walking away to his room with a smile. Lest entered his room and saw the slight but visible changes to the bedroom that he would soon share with his wife.

The room was slightly bigger as it was to accommodate one more person and an additional ghost along with their belongings. The flower pots in each corner of the room were all sparkling clean while having fresh autumn grass put in them. Another crafting table was added in his room, positioned near the left corner vase. A medium-sized table with two wooden chairs were also added and put in the middle of the big bedroom.

Lest laid on the bed, which had also increased in size along with a newer set of bed covers and pillows. Rolling to face the other side of the bed, he smiled as the image of his future wife came into his mind, _‘I wonder what Dolce is doing right now…’_

Meanwhile at the clinic’s second floor, the older nurse was going back and forth in the kitchen with four plates spread on the kitchen counter. She had volunteered doing all the cooking for the night while her foster daughter helped her by getting the table ready. While the ladies were busy with dinner preparation, the doctor had already closed the clinic and joined them on the second floor.

“Ah, let me help with that,” Jones walked towards the table and took the empty plates from Dolce’s hands, “You must be tired after taking care of the wedding preparation, so let me prepare the table tonight.”

“I’m fine, though,” Dolce insisted, but Jones shook his head in disagreement.

“Don’t worry, Dolce,” Jones gave her a smile, “Please, have a seat.”

“Okay…” Dolce hesitantly obeyed and pulled out a chair for her to sit.

With Dolce sitting on the dinner table, Pico appeared next to her, _“Isn’t this great, milady? Don’t you feel like a princess today?”_

“Well…” Dolce opened up her mouth to answer, but Nancy responded before she could finish.

“She will soon become one, after all,” Nancy let out a laugh before turning her head to the two, “Lest is a prince, so Dolly will become a princess!”

“That’s true,” Jones had finished preparing the table and sat across Dolce, “And it will happen tomorrow.”

“Yes…” Nancy let out a quiet and sad sigh, but it was audible enough for the other three to notice.

“Nancy…?” Dolce asked, seeing that the older nurse had been quiet for a moment.

“It’s alright,” Nancy turned back to the three with a slight smile, “By the way, dinner is ready now.”

_“Oh, what are we having today?”_ Pico asked eagerly, although knowing the fact that she couldn’t eat.

“Here it is,” Nancy set the plates in front of Dolce and Pico before going back and get the other two plates for Jones and herself.

“Flan?” Dolce raised a brow in confusion as she looked at her favorite menu in front of her.

“I was planning to bake some cheesecake for today, but the store is out of sweet powder for today,” Nancy replied with a smile, but soon turned into a frown when she saw that Dolce hadn’t touched her spoon, “Or would you like to eat something else?”

“No, it’s okay,” Dolce gave Nancy a smile before finally taking her spoon, “This should be enough.”

_“Um… I can’t eat…”_ Pico said before turning to Dolce, _“I’ll give my share to Dolly again, like the usual.”_

“I don’t think I should eat another tonight…” Dolce took a spoonful of flan into her mouth, but her eyes never actually left the flan sitting in front of Pico.

“Don’t you worry about it, Dolly,” Nancy let out a laugh, “Another flan wouldn’t make your dress too tight for you.”

Nancy’s comment had brought red color to her cheeks, “I-I didn’t say that!”

_“It’s okay, Dolly. Just take it and enjoy it, okay? After all, we won’t be eating together like this very often once you’re married,”_ Pico commented after seeing how Dolce had eyed the flan before taking it herself.

Pico was right. That night would be the last night she spent with her foster parents to eat dinner together on the same table. The female Guardian unconsciously showed a frown on her face as she had slowly become comfortable living with this new family of hers. The family who had no blood relation to her at all, but had the same warmth and kindness as the family she had left hundreds of years ago.

“It’s all right,” Jones’ voice had snapped Dolce from her thoughts, “You can come and visit anytime you like,” Dolce stared at him in surprise before letting out a small smile as she nodded.

“Yes, and I’ll continue working here if you two don’t mind,” Dolce turned to Nancy and smiled, “I can handle my usual shift, so I should be able to visit quite often.”

“I’ll be looking forward to your visits then,” Nancy responded with another smile before rising from her seat and took Dolce’s empty plates, “Here, let me do the dishes tonight.”

Dolce saw her plates taken and looked at the older nurse in confusion, “Wasn’t it supposed to be my turn to do the dishes?” Nancy shook her head before heading towards the kitchen sink.

Nancy put the plates in the sink as she continued talking with her back turned to her foster daughter, “Tonight is special, so I’ll do the dishes for you,” Nancy turned her head and gave the female Guardian a smile, “Now go on and get some rest, okay?”

Dolce was one to pretend everything to be okay when things weren’t fine, so the smile on Nancy’s face could easily be read as an attempt to keep her from worrying. The doctor sitting behind Nancy had also noticed his wife’s behavior and decided that it was his job to be there for her. After all, the two of them had promised to send Dolce to her wedding with a smile on their faces to celebrate their foster daughter’s union with the Earthmate.

“Don’t worry about Nancy,” Jones said as he rose from his seat, “I will be helping her as well.”

“O-Okay, I’ll go back to my room,” Dolce gave him a nod before turning to Nancy, “Um… goodnight.”

There was a slight noticeable pause as Nancy was doing the dishes after hearing how Dolce had greeted her goodnight before continuing to wash the dishes. It was the first time she had heard her say goodnight and it was the reason for her mixed feelings of happy and sad. The same word had actually surprised the doctor standing next to her, who watched as Dolce walked into her room.

Jones turned back to his wife, who had already continued washing the plates quietly, “Nancy?” Jones asked while putting the dirty plate he was holding and watched his wife worriedly, “Are you worried about her?”

“No,” Nancy shortly replied before forcing a smile, only to come out as a sad one, “Because I know that she has chosen the right man. I believe so… it’s just…”

The doctor saw the sadness on his wife’s face and held one of her hands, surprising the nurse, “Are you afraid of letting her go?”

“Jones…” Nancy turned to look at his husband before a frown came to her face as she turned back to look at the dishes in the sink, “I know Lest is a good man for Dolly… but I’m still worried about her…”

“Nancy,” Nancy turned to see Jones giving her a smile, “I know you can trust him to care of Dolce. You should be able to know how happy she has been ever since they were together.”

“Ah, yes…” Nancy gave him a smile in return, but a more natural one.

While the couple continued on talking about that certain Earthmate and his relationship with their foster daughter, Dolce had already changed to her night gown in her room. She sat on the desk she had been using to do most of her crafting while looking at the golden ring on her finger. Pico was watching her from beside their bed, noticing the confusion on her friend’s face.

_“What’s wrong?”_ Pico asked the female Guardian, but her gaze was locked on the ring.

It was the ring given to Dolce by the Earthmate and the acting prince whom she had fallen in love with. She never knew that day would come for them, for her, who had driven most men away by her manner of speaking before she became a Guardian. Marriage had never come into her mind until she met and got to know the amnesiac Earthmate better. He was the only one who came to her while wanting to know more about her even after knowing how bluntly she talked.

He had understood the true meaning of her words almost as much as Pico had, but there was still one question remained. If she had accepted him as her family, would that meant she had to leave her new family she had grown close to? Just to be part of Lest’s family, although he had no blood relatives he remembered?

“Tell me, Pico,” Dolce started, still staring at the ring, “Am I doing the right thing?”

_“What do you mean? Is this about your marriage?”_ Pico replied with another question, but the answer was clear from the Dolce’s change of expression into sadness.

The female Guardian slowly nodded, “You saw how Nancy reacted at dinner, right?”

The ghost girl noticed the sadness on her face and knowing her since she was little, she knew what was on her mind. Her connection to Dolce didn’t enable her to read her mind or know what she was feeling, but watching her live made her understand her better. She understood what a family was to Dolce and how precious it was to her. She never showed it to just anyone, but she could tell how much she cared for the new family that took them in. Because of how she cared, it was obvious for her to notice Nancy’s expression when Jones mentioned about her wedding.

Pico gave her a nod, _“But I think that’s how a mother responds to her daughter’s wedding, right? Judging from how close you are with Lest, I think Nancy knows that this will happen sooner or later.”_

“I see…” Dolce replied in a whisper, “Can I… ask you another question?”

_“Let me guess… Is this about Lest?”_ The shocked expression was the answer that she needed, _“I knew it.”_

“You know how hard it is for me to be open with my feelings to people other than you, right?” Pico gave her a nod as an answer, “But with him, sometimes I can feel like I can be open to him… But that is what scares me the most.”

_“Are you afraid that Lest might think that you’re showing your real feelings when you actually aren’t?”_ Pico asked, getting a nod in response.

“Yes, and how it might make him distance himself from me,” Dolce held the ring with her other hand, turning it left and right as she looked at it, “It hurts when I imagine if that were to happen…”

That was another side of Dolce that Pico had already known for years. She acted like she never cared if people wanted to be away from her, but Pico knew that Dolce would still want another friend to talk to. A normal, human friend, not a ghost like her. Even so, Pico knew that Dolce cared for her as a friend although she hardly showed it in front of many people. It was not just her, but all the people she had grown fond of. It was because of her not being able to express her feelings better that she was afraid of being left alone. Especially not by him, though both of them knew that person wouldn’t leave anyone.

Pico let out a loud sigh, getting Dolce’s attention back, _“You worry too much, Dolly. After knowing him all this time, I don’t think he is the kind of person who will just leave anyone behind. Even in the case when his life is in danger, he couldn’t possibly abandon Ven and give up.”_

That fact came into light as Dolce remembered how Lest had made her worry with his life-risking actions. He had used a dangerous spell and entered the Forest of Beginnings to save the last Guardian. He had fought the clones of the native dragons on his own and came back barely alive. He had confessed to her before his dangerous battle against Ethelberd to save the town and almost lost. Finally, he had used the same dangerous spell to bring Ventuswill back, which almost cost him his life.

A small smile curved on her lips, “That idiot risked his life using the spell that he couldn’t even master.”

Pico nodded in agreement before putting her hands over her chest, _“And that same person had melted the ice on milady’s heart, finally letting Jones and Nancy to be part of your family.”_

“True enough,” The smile on her face grew a bit wider.

Pico had her hands back to her sides, _“What else should you be worried about? I believe that Lest is worth your heart, Dolly.”_

“Yes, he is,” Dolce turned to look at her ring once more with a smile, “I trust you, Pico. I trust that Lest can make us happy as a family.”

_“Or would you rather it to be just the two of us together?”_ Pico’s usual sly grin had faded Dolce’s smile while she glared at her.

“Begone,” Dolce threw the talisman she had saved on her desk, landing on Pico’s stomach.

_“OUCH!”_ Pico acted as if she was rolling in pain while her effort of getting Dolce’s sympathy had failed as it usually would.

“I should be getting to bed now,” Dolce rose from her seat and walked towards her bed while purposely avoiding Pico’s vain effort of grabbing her gown.

Seeing that her efforts had failed once more, Pico stopped rolling on the ground and saw that Dolce was laying on her bed with her back turned to her, _“Goodnight Dolly.”_

“Goodnight Pico,” Dolce slightly turned and smiled at her ghost friend before turning off the lights, finally turning in for the night.


	10. The Big Day

That special day had finally arrived, dated on the twenty ninth day of summer. Colorful flowers had decorated the town of Selphia, bathing the streets with the scent of flowers and flower petals. The castle standing in the middle of the town was the place where the lucky groom had come out of, along with his older butler trailing behind him. The way how the butler had been sniffling and wiping the tears from his eyes would make people think that the groom would be leaving the castle after spending a long time in it, though it wasn’t the case.

“You can stop crying now, Volkanon,” Lest laughed at the crying butler, who ended up crying even louder, “I-It’s not like I’m leaving you or the others here.”

“Sir Lest…” Volkanon said between his sniffles, “Forgive me, but this is such a beautiful occasion… I cannot express how happy I am to see you marry!”

“Thank you, Volkanon,” Lest smiled and slightly bowed in respect.

“I shall be waiting in the dragon room,” Volkanon wiped his last tears before giving the young prince a big smile, “Now, go on the first day of the rest of your life!”

“Yes, thank you,” Lest saw the butler leaving before walking towards the stairs leading to the east side of the town, where his soon-to-be wife had already been coming from.

“Lest…” Dolce looked at Lest, who had already dressed in his white tuxedo.

Looking at her nervous fiancé, Lest gave her a warm smile, “Your dress suits you well, Dolce. You look amazing.”

“O-Okay…” A shade of pink appeared across her face.

Pico suddenly appeared next to Dolce, looking at the couple while feeling a mix of happiness and jealousy, _“You two look so excited that it makes me jealous!”_

“Pico…” Dolce turned to the ghost with a low growl, but Pico responded with a laugh.

_“Now, now, calm down. I just want to make sure everything is okay, I’m not going to bother you,”_ Pico gave her a reassuring smile, _“Plus, I agree with what he said. You look stunning today, Dolly.”_

“Pico…” Dolce’s stern look had softened and her lips curved into a smile, “Thank you.”

_“Everything seems okay, so I’ll go on ahead, okay? See you later!”_ Pico disappeared with a smile, possibly going back to wait with her foster parents.

“Dolce,” Dolce turned to Lest, who was smiling at her while offering her his hand, “Shall we be off now?”

Dolce gave him a warm smile and gently took his offered hand, “Okay.”

The couple started their walk, heading towards the southernmost stairs to reach the east side of the town while holding each other’s hands. Their first stop was in front of the Carnation flower shop where they were greeted and congratulated by Amber and Illuminata.

“Congratulations on your wedding!” Amber extended a hand Lest to shake, before she gave Dolce a hug, which had surprised her.

“Congratulations,” Illuminata gave her hand to shake Lest’s and Dolce’s, “How do you like our flower decorations?”

Lest looked around to see the flower lineup on the streets, giving more color to them before turning back to the two with a smile, “They’re really lovely and they’re giving more color to the streets.”

“I agree,” Dolce nodded in agreement before turning to Amber with a smile, “And thank you for the pretty moondrop bouquet.”

“You’re welcome!” Amber gave her usual smile before she and Illuminata moved aside to give way for the couple to continue.

The elven musician had already been waiting for them at the small set of stairs ahead, along with her harp sitting next to her. Margaret gave her hand to shake, giving her wishes to the couple.

“Congratulations on your marriage, Lest and Dolce,” Margaret gave them a smile.

“Thanks,” Lest returned the handshake with a smile, “Is the entertainment ready?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll sing my best songs,” Margaret gave him a wink, “You can relax and keep your wife accompanied!”

“Thank you, Meg,” Dolce returned the handshake, before noticing a familiar object around the elf’s wrist, “Wait, is that…”

“Yes, it’s the bracelet you gave me on my birthday,” Margaret smiled and looked at the bracelet, which was made of colorful strings with small musical notes hanging on it, “I feel inspired writing music when I look at it.”

“I see. I’m glad you like it,” Dolce gave her another smile before the elf moved from their way, leading to the stairs where the others were waiting.

“Be careful when going up the stairs,” Lest took Dolce’s hand with his right one while putting his right arm around his fiancé to support her as they both started going up the stairs.

“You don’t have to take it this far, you know,” Dolce quietly said as they slowly went through the stairs.

“I won’t let you fall, Dolce,” Lest replied with a smile, “I already promised that I’ll always be by your side and protect you.”

A shade of pink returned to her face as she let out a small laugh, “You’d better be.”

Once they were at the top of the stairs, Lest let his left arm go from Dolce and held her hand once more. A few meters away from the stairs, the owners of the general store had already been waiting to give them their wishes.

“Congrats on your wedding, bro!” Instead of a handshake, the dwarf had held out his fist to meet with Lest’s.

“Congratulations on your wedding, both of you,” Lest and Dolce shook Blossom’s hand with a smile before heading towards the northern side of the town.

Porcoline was standing in front of the restaurant on his own with a frown on his face. The chef noticed the incoming couple and turned to them, although the frown hadn’t left his face, “Oh, Lest…”

“What’s wrong, Porcoline? And where’s Arthur?” Lest asked.

“He left last night saying that he had some urgent matters and couldn’t make it for today,” Despite his disappointment, Porcoline forced a smile as he passionately shook Lest’s hand, “But let me congratulate you two on your wedding. Please forgive Arthur for his absence.”

“Thanks, and don’t worry about him,” Porcoline moved to the side, giving way for the couple to pass.

“You’re too nice, you know,” Dolce commented shortly.

“Well…” Lest put his free hand on the back of his neck while trying to find the right words to respond, “I’m sure he had a good reason for him not to attend our wedding…”

“I know,” Dolce let out a smile, “I understand that he must be busy, unlike you.”

Lest let out a laugh, “Yeah, sure…”

The two reached in front of the airship, where Dylas and Leon had been waiting to give their wishes.

“Hey,” Dylas called out, trying to force a smile, “Sorry I’m not good with words about this, so I’m not quite sure how to say this,” Dylas gave them his hand while letting out a small smile, “Here’s hoping for many happy returns.”

“Thank you,” Lest and Dolce took Dylas’ hand to shake.

“I won’t be teasing you two today, so don’t worry,” Leon gave them his hand, “Congratulations on your marriage.”

Dylas and Leon moved to make way for the couple, leading towards the inn with Xiao Pai and Lin Fa waiting in front of the door. Giving the couple a smile, the younger inn manager gave them her hand, “Congrash! Best witches!”

The mistakes on the wishes she was going to give them had silenced the two before they turned to look at each other in confusion and back towards Xiao Pai.

“I… messed up, yes?” An embarrassed smile came to Xiao Pai’s face.

Dolce let out a sigh, before looking at her with a smile and took her hand, “Thank you, but how is it even possible to fail at saying such a simple statement?”

Lin Fa let out a small laugh before putting a hand on her daughter’s shoulder, “But my little Xiao’s mistake is what makes her cuter!”

“It’s not funny, yes?” Xiao Pai removed her mother’s hand from her shoulder before turning back to the couple with a smile, “You both have such a happy look on your faces, that makes me over-happy!”

“N-No, I…” A slight blush appeared on Dolce’s face.

“I can see it,” Xiao Pai replied before turning to Lest, “Is that right, Lest?”

“I can see that she’s happier than she used to be on this day,” Lest turned to Dolce with a warm smile, making her blush even more.

“C-Come on, let’s get going,” Dolce pulled on Lest’s hand slightly, motioning for him to leave as well, which made him laugh.

“Yes, there are others who want to give you their wishes,” Lin Fa nodded in agreement and smiled, “Congratulations. I wish for your happiness,” The two innkeepers had moved out of the way, letting the couple pass and headed towards the west side of the town with the siblings waiting for them.

Forte let out respectful bow before giving the couple a smile, “Congratulations on your marriage, Lest, Dolce.”

“Congratulations you two,” Unlike his sister, Kiel gave his hand to Lest and Dolce.

“Thank you,” Dolce returned the smile, until she noticed something on the dragon knight, “Are you okay, Forte? You look a little pale.”

“O-Oh, I do?” Forte asked nervously, getting stares coming from the couple.

“It’s kind of an odd story…” Kiel started before Forte lightly gave him an elbow.

“Kiel, no…” Forte whispered in embarrassment, but her warnings were completely ignored as he continued his story.

“You see, Forte was excited when we someone sent us a cake yesterday and took it for her to eat but…” The embarrassed knight quickly covered her brother’s mouth with her gloved hands, stopping him from continuing the story.

“No, it’s nothing,” The embarrassed blush was still on her face as she removed her hands from Kiel’s mouth.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t tell anyone about the rainbow trout cake Leon sent us…” Kiel apologized, not noticing that he had spilled the truth unconsciously.

“Kiel!” Forte scolded in embarrassment.

“Wait, a rainbow trout cake?” Lest repeated the question with a laugh, “Is that the ‘interesting’ that he meant before?”

“Probably so,” Dolce shortly replied before turning to Forte, “You should let Jones check on you later. I hope it’s not that bad.”

“Okay…” Forte bowed once more, “I should apologize for making you worry on your wedding day.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lest responded with a smile, “We’re just happy to help.”

The knight gave him a nod before she and her brother moved to the sides, letting the couple through only to see the lazy blacksmith chilling on the bench in front of the river. Noticing the passing couple, the blacksmith gave them a wave, “Congrats! Best of luck to you!”

“O-Okay, thank you!” Lest waved back before he and Dolce walked towards the last people on their track.

Jones was standing next to the clinic with Nancy and Pico at his other side. Nancy and Pico were watching the couple walking up to them with tears on their eyes, while Jones gave them a warm smile. The doctor offered his hand to Lest, who took it with a returned smile.

“Congratulations,” Jones turned to Dolce, who was looking at him as if she was about to cry, before he turned back to Lest, “Lest, I leave my daughter in your care.”

Lest gave him a nod, “Thanks.”

“Jones…” Dolce’s voice came out as a whisper.

“Dolce,” Jones turned to his foster daughter, “I wish you have happy life with Lest.”

Tears had started forming at the edge of her eyes as she smiled and nodded, “Thank you… Dad…”

Hearing the words had surprised the doctor, but he was happy to hear it at the same time. Jones turned to his wife on his right and gave her a slight nudge on her arm, “Nancy, is there anything else you wish to say to Dolce?”

Nancy gave him a nod before turning to Dolce with a forced smile on her face, “Dolly, you look gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” Dolce shortly replied, aware of the forced smile on Nancy’s face.

The smile soon turned into a stern look as she turned to Lest, “Lest, you have to take good care of Dolly, okay?”

“Yes, you bet!” Lest nodded confidently.

“You know how Dolly isn’t good at expressing her feelings, right?” The stern look on Nancy’s face slowly softened, “Sometimes she is a little blunt, but…” Nancy turned to look at Dolce with a sad smile, “She really is a sweet, cute, and wonderful person… She gets lonely very easily, so…” The nurse wiped the tears which had started coming out, “Please be by her side, I know that you would…”

“Nancy… I…” Dolce took Nancy’s hands in hers as her tears started coming out as well, “I want to thank you… for everything that you’ve done for me…” Dolce gave the older nurse a hug, “Thank you for being a mother to me…”

“Dolly…” Nancy returned the hug for a moment, letting go to have the last family member give her wishes.

“Pico…” Dolce turned to her best friend, who had never left her side.

Pico gave her a smile, but her feeling of emotion was clearly visible, _“I’ll always be sticking with you like always, and I’ll always be here for you.”_

Dolce nodded and smiled, “Thanks, Pico.”

_“But let me ask you a question,”_ Pico continued, _“Are you happy with this?”_

“Yes,” A slight blush appeared on her face, “Of course. As happy as when I first met you.”

_“I… see…”_ A single tear slid from her cheek before she turned to Lest, _“Promise me that you will take good care of milady from now on!”_

“Yes, I will,” Lest held his bride closer, but there was no resistance coming from her this time.

_“Dolly…”_ Pico turned to her best friend with a sad smile as she slowly lost her color, _“I wish for you to be happy…”_

“Pico! You’re turning transparent!” Dolce knelt down to Pico’s level and grabbed her shoulders, “No, don’t tell me…!” The ghost girl only smiled silently as she slowly turned transparent, prompting Dolce to hold her and prevent her from disappearing, “No, don’t! Don’t go Pico!”

The sudden panic within the group went up and suddenly down when Pico regained their color, leaving Dolce to stare at the ghost she was holding in disbelief, _“Did I get you, Dolly? I think my acting was pretty convincing, wasn’t it?”_

“Pico…” An angry growl came from the female Guardian, but her attempt of letting out her annoyance was prevented as Lest had pulled her up and slightly pulled her away from the scene.

“Yes, yes, let’s get going…” Lest took Dolce out of the scene and headed towards the town square ahead, which had already been filled with tables covered on white cloth with some chairs.

Some of the tourists who had been in town the past few days were invited to the dinner as they were sitting on their tables. The people gave applause as the couple made it through the town square and got more wishes from the two butlers waiting in front of the door leading to the dragon room. The two of them bowed down in respect once the couple stopped in front of them.

“Congratulations on your marriage, Prince,” Vishnal said with his regular smile before moving to the side.

“Congratulations. May you two have a happy life together,” Clorica got to the side as well, across Vishnal, allowing the couple to enter the dragon room to say their wedding vows.

With Ventuswill leading the ceremony, the two said their wedding vows in front of the wind dragon and Volkanon. Once they had said their vows, the two turned to see each other with their hands still locked on each other to share their wedding kiss, officially becoming husband and wife.

“I promise I’ll make you happy,” Lest looked at his new wife with a loving smile.

“I know you will. And I’ll never let you go, not ever,” Dolce leaned in forward for another kiss, before a familiar voice interrupted the moment.

_“DOLLYYY!!!”_ Pico raced into the room and towards Dolce, who had expected her and took a step back while pulling Lest with her, letting the ghost crash into Ventuswill.

“Whoa!” The dragon didn’t expect the sudden impact, but the comparison between her and Pico’s body made the impact seem to be a slight nudge on her abdomen.

_“Hey! Let’s get outside!”_ Pico had recovered from the crash and approached the couple, _“Everyone is waiting for us!”_

“Okay, let’s go,” Lest gave her a nod and turned to Dolce, “Come on, let’s meet the others and enjoy the meal.”

The ceremony ended with a dinner party in the town square with the food prepared from the restaurant and the inn. Margaret’s singing voice was heard from the background being the party’s source of entertainment while Dylas, Clorica, and Vishnal was walking back and forth delivering the food the tables.

Lest and Dolce shared their table with Jones, Nancy, and Volkanon as they had their meal with Pico hovering beside Dolce. They had their conversation about various topics from Volkanon explaining about the upgraded bedroom for the newlyweds up to the topic of starting a family, which had greatly embarrassed the couple. It was when Lest was about to start his meal that he noticed something moving around in the middle of the square.

A wooden sign was literally moving around, hovering closer towards the table they were all sharing. A certain ghost girl came into his mind as the first suspect, only to see his new wife being teased by that same suspect as both of them were next to him. Some writings started appearing on the sign, which had the shapes he had already seen before.

Lest patted Dolce on the shoulder, snapping her from her embarrassment, “W-What is it?”

Lest pointed out his finger at the hovering board, which had almost finished writing itself, “That sign… isn’t Pico, right?”

“Huh?” Dolce turned a little to her side to a confused Pico before turning back to the sign as it slowly hovered closer, “Wait, those handwritings…”

_“Did you see something, milady?”_ Pico noticed the surprised look on the bride’s face before turning to the sign which had the couple’s attention, _“Hey, I think… I think it’s them!”_

“Yes…” Dolce whispered as she let out a sad smile, “They are also here, attending my wedding…”

“They’re your parents, right?” Lest moved closer, wrapping his arm around Dolce’s waist, “Let’s see… your mom said ‘Congratulations, Dolly! I hope you live a happy life with him!’ and your dad wrote on the bottom…”

_“He said ‘Take good care of my daughter. I hope my trust is not misplaced.’”_ Pico finished reading the sign before turning to Dolce with a sad smile, _“They have given you two their blessing as well…”_

Dolce nodded silently and smiled as she let a single tear slid down from her face, “Yes, I know…” She turned to the hovering sign as she held Lest’s hand firmly and whispered, “Thank you… Mom… Dad…”

The wind blew across the square, but the blowing wind had shocked Lest as he saw the hovering sign. He saw two figures, a man and a woman, with the man holding on to the sign. The man had short red hair slightly covered by a black top hat similar to the ones Dolce usually wore while also wearing white gloves and a purple shirt covered with a long black cape. The woman had long curly pink hair tied to a ponytail and wore a red long dress and was holding a moondrop flower in her hands.

The man and woman were smiling at them, but the unfamiliar faces had Lest confused for a moment until he realized who the figures were. Lest returned their smiles and nodded before more wind blew through the square, wiping clean the figures’ existence along with the sign. Lest saw his new wife turned to him with a smile and teary eyes which made him bring his hand to gently wipe the tears from her eyes.

“The two people I saw… were my parents-in-law, right?” Lest asked with a whisper and got a nod from Dolce.

“I saw them too…” Dolce replied in a whisper, “They gave us their blessing as well…” The two of them shared another look at each other before joining with the other people on the table to eat.

The party ended at the middle of the day with the villagers helping each other with cleaning up the town square afterwards. While the town square was being cleaned up, Lest helped his new wife move into the castle by carrying her stuff from her old room at the clinic. With everything all set in their new bedroom, they had the day off to rest at the home they would share from that day on.

The newlywed had spent their first hour in the room, trying to pick the best pet names for each other. They were sitting by the table in the middle of their bedroom, with Lest watching his blushing wife while laughing along with Pico, who had joined in for her own amusement.

“Come on, Dolly,” Lest teased with a laugh, “You already heard me call you by your new nickname, so it’s your turn now…”

_“We’re not here for a day yet but I’m already enjoying it!”_ Pico commented before pulling on Dolce’s dress, _“Say it, Dolly! I want to hear it too!”_

“I… I’ll say it, okay?” Dolce took a deep breath before looking at her new husband with a nervous smile, “W-Will you make me the happiest person, s-sweetie?”

“Of course,” Lest took Dolce’s hands in his, “And I know you will do the same for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first arc, Wishes, ends with this chapter but the story is far from ending! The next arc will start in the next chapter!


	11. Royal Invitation

A few days had passed since Lest and Dolce got married. The newlyweds were living in the castle, which had recently got renovated. The renovation was ordered by Lest himself to add another floor with a few more rooms. The Earthmate was admiring the result of the renovation from the front of the castle before a soldier passed by and gave him a message about him being called to Arthur’s.

Lest headed to Arthur’s office as he was told, finding the man sitting on his desk as he usually would. Arthur noticed the door opening and saw Lest coming in from the door, “Ah, you’re here.”

“It’s been a while, Arthur. How are you?” Lest greeted with a smile.

“I’m fine, thank you,” Arthur rose from his seat before pointing his hand at the small tea table on his right, “Please have a seat. I have something to tell you.”

“Okay,” Lest gave him a nod before taking a seat at one of the small couch by the table before Arthur soon joined him on the couch across him.

Putting down an opened envelope on the table, Arthur extended his hand to Lest, “Let me congratulate you on your marriage to Dolce. I’m sorry I couldn’t attend the ceremony.”

“Don’t worry, I understand,” Lest took Arthur’s extended hand for a shake, “And thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” Arthur turned to the envelope on the table and took it in his hand, “The truth is, I was called to the capital on the night before your wedding day.”

“Wait, did something happen?” Lest asked worriedly.

“No, there is no trouble,” Arthur replied calmly before pulling out a piece of folded paper from the envelope, “I was called in order to pass this invitation to the person who had saved Lady Ventuswill.”

“An invitation for me?” Lest took the paper that Arthur had given him and unfolded it to read the invitation letter, “It’s… a ballroom party at the King’s castle?!” Lest put the paper down to his lap, looking at Arthur in surprise, “A-Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Arthur gave him a slight nod, “My father would like to invite you in order to appreciate the good things that you’ve done for the Kingdom of Norad.”

Lest took another at the letter before putting in on the table and slid it to Arthur’s side, “I don’t think I deserve all the credits, though. I mean, I wouldn’t be able to save Venti if you and Kiel hadn’t looked into the Rune Spheres.”

“That’s true, but it was you who used that spell to bring her back town,” Arthur gently slid the paper back to Lest’s side, “The kingdom has seen you as a hero and this is how they show their appreciation for your efforts.”

“That’s… true…” Lest hesitantly took the paper back into his hand, “Do I have to go alone?”

“Fortunately, I have asked my father regarding that issue,” Arthur replied, “You may bring your wife as well and stay for a night at the castle.”

“Okay, I don’t mind coming then,” Lest folded the paper back, “It’s the day after tomorrow, right?”

Arthur gave him a nod, “Yes. I shall be coming as well in order to see another client from the capital.”

“Okay,” Lest nodded in understanding, “So… we’re heading there by the airship? Or did the capital provide any other way of transport?”

“Unfortunately, the capital couldn’t provide us any extra transportation,” Arthur replied while fixing his glasses’ position, “There would be nobles coming from various parts from the kingdom, so their transportation would be prioritized.”

“Okay, that should be fine,” Lest rose from his seat, followed by Arthur, “I should get going now. I need to tell Dolly and get ourselves ready for that day.”

“Very well,” Arthur nodded in understanding, “We should be leaving at morning for the party.”

Lest nodded, “Okay, got it. I’ll see you later then.”

“Yes. Please send my regards to your wife,” Arthur smiled as he watched the Earthmate leaving his office, before the smile on his face slowly disappeared.

**_-Flashback-_ **

_Arthur was standing in the middle of a huge and well-lit room with chandeliers hanging on the ceiling. A long red carpet with golden strips at the edges spread from the big pair of rectangular dark brown doors to the small set of stairs in front of Arthur. At the top of the stairs, a golden throne chair stood with a man wearing a dark red coat sitting on it. The man had light yellow hair with his long mustache and beard having the same color._

_“The man’s name is Lest, Father. He is also an Earthmate who had lost his memories,” Arthur spoke up, holding on to the letter he had received._

_“Earthmate Lest… I see…” The man nodded as his deep voice rang in the room._

_“Do you happen to know him?” Arthur asked politely, noticing the slight change of expression on his father’s face._

_“It is best that I see him in person,” The man replied._

_“Very well,” Arthur bowed slightly, “Is there anything else you want to tell Lest before the day of the feast?”_

_“There is none,” The man rose from his throne, “Arthur, will you come here to me?”_

_Arthur looked at his father in confusion before he slightly nodded, “Certainly.”_

_Arthur stood in front of his father, who was the same height as he was. Arthur looked at his father in shock when a pair of arms came to him and held him closer to his father, “It has been a while, my son.”_

_“Yes, Father,” Arthur lightly returned the hug with a smile on his face before pushing the older man from him, “But my place is no longer in this castle.”_

_“I understand,” The king put his hands on his son’s shoulders before looking at him with a smile, “Were your mother still here, she would be very proud.”_

_The smile on Arthur’s faded and he gently pushed his father’s hands from his shoulders, “My apologies, Father. I still have an appointment with my client.”_

_“Ah, yes. Please, don’t keep them waiting,” The king replied as he saw his son walking down the small set of stairs._

_“I shall be leaving,” Arthur bowed down before silently heading towards the door._

**_-End of Flashback-_ **

Arthur found himself back at his desk once more, surrounded by various books and paper scattered on the desk. He held a broken pair of glasses, which had the model similar to women’s glasses. He ignored the pile of books and paper scattered on his desk, acting as if they never were on the desk. His gaze only focused on the broken glasses which he had in his possession for a long time.

Meanwhile at the castle, Lest had found his wife knitting in their bedroom when he gave her the invitation letter for her to read.

“So, how about it?” Lest asked his wife, “Do you want to come?”

“To be honest, I’m not too fond of these kind of parties,” Dolce folded back the letter she was holding before turning to Lest with a smile, “But if you’re coming, I don’t think it sounds that bad.”

“Okay. Thanks for coming with me, Dolly,” Lest took the letter back and smiled.

Pico appeared in front of Lest with a grin her face, _“Dolly doesn’t really want to, but she insisted so you won’t flirt with other girls there.”_

“Pico!” A smack on the head from the blushing wife was enough for the ghost to wince in pain.

“Don’t worry about it Dolly,” Lest looked at Dolce with a loving smile, “You’re the only one for me, Dolly. Always have and always will.”

“W-What…?” Dolce turned red faced as she looked at her smiling husband before turning away in embarrassment, “I know that already…”

“I know you would,” Lest leaned in for an embrace, which was returned without any resistance.

“Um… sweetie…” Dolce slowly pulled away after a moment, “I’ll take care of our needs, so you can focus on your work.”

“Thanks, Dolly,” Lest leaned in to give a peck on her cheek before running off back to his fields, “I’ll see you later tonight!”

Back in the castle in the capital, a young woman had entered the audience room where the king’s throne was. She had long green hair tied to twin tails while wearing a white dress under a brown leather breastplate. The woman stopped in front of the throne, going down on one knee to bow in respect.

“Have you called me, Your Majesty?” The young woman asked while having her head down.

“Please rise to your feet, Miss Frey,” The king ordered and the young woman slowly got up to reveal her emotionless light green eyes, “I may have found him.”

The emotionlessness on her eyes turned into a surprise, “I-Is that true? Have Lest finally been found?!”

“I am not yet certain he is the one,” The king continued, removing some of the excitement from the young woman, “But he is one among the nobles I have invited to attend the feast.”

“I see…” The young woman, Frey, bowed down, “I apologize for my behavior.”

“I understand how you feel, Miss Frey,” Frey looked back up at the king, “I shall allow you to accompany him during his stay in this castle.”

“Thank you very much, Your Majesty,” Frey gave another polite bow.

“And…” The king continued, “To come with him to Selphia for your next mission. You may ask for the details about this mission to my butler, Julius.”

“I understand,” Frey nodded, “I will be leaving,” With another bow, Frey turned to walk towards the door but stopped when she was opening the door, _‘Lest… will I finally see you again?’_

There was another short pause before Frey finally opened the door and left the room.


	12. Reunion

The airship carrying the three Selphian had lowered into its dock in front of the king’s castle with a pair of soldiers guarding the castle gate. The soldiers donned identical armor which was made of enhanced steel, colored in bright silver. The identical-colored steel helmets covered most of their faces, leaving an opening for their eyes to see. The two soldiers had their silver spears crossed against each other, blocking any unauthorized people from passing into the castle.

The three got off from the airship with Lest carrying a bigger backpack for his and Dolce’s need to stay while Arthur had brought an old scroll in his hand and walked in front of the couple, heading towards the soldiers on guard.

“Lord Arthur! We have been waiting for your arrival,” The soldier on the left side of the gate spoke up.

“And the two people who have come with you are Sir Lest and Lady Dolce, correct?” The soldier on the right side asked.

“Yes. They have come to attend the party this evening,” Arthur replied firmly.

“You may pass, milord,” The soldiers moved their spears away, unblocking the way towards the gate.

Arthur turned to the couple behind him with a smile, “Come, let me show you to your room.”

The three of them went through the gate and into the gigantic grey building. The first room to greet them was a huge room with dark red paint coloring the walls, which were decorated with various paintings of people dressed in formal clothes. A big chandelier, which was decorated with small but detailed golden bird sculptures, was hanging on the ceiling. The ceiling was also painted in four different color schemes, each representing one of the Native Dragons. On the left and right sides of the room, statues of various monsters were lined up neatly.

Arthur stopped in his tracks and turned to the couple, “This is one of the castle’s art rooms. You can see the royal family’s statue collections as well as their portraits.”

“Wow… this is amazing…” Dolce looked around the room in amazement before walking towards a statue of a wooly near the entrance, “I can see a lot of details in this one as well.”

“Oh, that’s actually a gift from one of my clients,” Arthur started, “Her husband is the one who provided the big woolies for our De-Fluffing Festival every year.”

“I’m not surprised,” Lest let out a laugh, “I think she gave the statue because of the order for woolies.”

Arthur responded with a nod, “I assumed so as well. Now, shall we get going?”

As they went through the room, a few women dressed in maid uniform were pacing through the room from and to the paths on the left and right sides of the room between the statues. Some of them were cleaning the statues, but quickly stopped their work for a moment to bow to Arthur as he went through the room and towards the big black doors across the room. He pushed the doors open, letting the sunlight shone straight into their faces.

“The guest chambers are here, surrounding this garden in the middle of this castle,” Arthur said as he continued ahead, “Your chamber should be up ahead.”

As Lest and Dolce were following behind Arthur, Pico had showed up in front of the two while floating to follow their pace, _“Are we there yet…?”_

“You shouldn’t show yourself here anytime you like, you know,” Dolce commented, “If people see you here, you might get kicked out as an intruder.”

Pico let out a sigh as her pace slowed down enough for her to be floating behind the two, _“I just never know it’ll be this far to reach our room…”_

The sound of footsteps was heard coming from behind the group, but they were too occupied in their conversation to notice.

“You’re a ghost. You don’t have to walk,” Dolce replied flatly.

“Yeah… and you don’t need to carry anything with you,” Lest let out a sigh before turning to Dolce while ignoring the fact that the sound of footsteps was getting closer, “Dolly, what did you put in here anyway?”

“I put our clothes in it and I added some food in case we get hungry,” Dolce replied as Lest let out a laugh, “W-What?”

“I think I already expect it coming…” The footsteps were heard coming from behind Lest before the vision in front of him suddenly went dark as a pair of gloved hands covered his eyes, “Hey!”

“Guess who!” A female voice was heard before she giggled.

“I… don’t know…” Lest removed the hands covering his eyes to reveal that the group had stopped walking with their gazes at the figure behind him. Turning around, Lest was greeted by a smiling green-haired young woman in twin tails before she threw her arms around him in excitement.

“It really is you, Lest!” The woman pulled him into a hug, leaving Lest looking at her in confusion.

“Miss Frey, what brings you here today?” Arthur called out to the woman, who had released the confused Earthmate from her hug.

“Lord Arthur!” The woman, Frey, noticed the approaching noble and lowered her head slightly, “I apologize for not recognizing you.”

“You can just call me Arthur,” Arthur gave her a smile, “We’re not speaking in front of other nobles, so you don’t have to be too formal with me.”

“Sorry,” Frey let out an embarrassed laugh before turning to Lest with a sad smile, “I was so excited to have seen Lest again at last…”

“And you are?” Dolce asked bluntly, looking slightly annoyed as she grabbed Lest’s hand tightly.

“Sorry for not introducing myself. I’m Frey, and Lest over there is my little twin brother,” Frey introduced herself politely, getting shocked looks from the three of them.

“Is Lest your brother whom you had mentioned before?” Arthur asked in surprise, getting a nod from Frey before his lips curved into a frown, “Unfortunately, Lest seems to have lost his memory.”

The shocked look turned to Frey as she looked at her long lost brother sadly, “Really…?”

“Sorry… I really can’t remember anything other than my name,” Lest apologized, “I can’t remember anything before the attack on the airship when I first came to Selphia.”

“I see…” Frey forced a smile before pulling a piece of folded paper from her pocket and handed it to Lest, “You might not remember this, but this is yours.”

Lest took the paper and unfolded it, revealing a drawing with notes written on some parts, “Is this some kind of map?”

Frey nodded in response, “Yup, it’s the map of this castle that you drew many years ago when you first came here.”

“Wait,” Dolce interrupted, “Lest had been here before? Shouldn’t anyone here already recognize him when we arrived?”

“That was over fifteen years ago,” Frey shortly replied, “Lest only came here once and it was only at that time.”

“I see,” Arthur started, “Even if there are anyone who had met him, that person would have already either retired or left the castle. Or in another case, they wouldn’t recognize his face now.”

“I guess so,” Lest’s response caught the attention of the others, “But it’s okay, at least I know that I still have a family,” Lest turned to Frey with a smile, “I don’t remember you, but I’m glad to know that I have a twin sister.”

The smile returned to Frey’s face, “You lost your memories, but you’re still the same old Lest to me,” Frey turned to Arthur, “Please excuse me, I should be going. The king requested for an audience with me regarding the party tonight.”

“Very well,” Arthur nodded in understanding, “Please let him know that I would be seeing him soon as well.”

“I will,” Frey turned back to the others, “I’ll see you later then. I’ll give you two a tour around the castle once I’m done.”

“Okay, see you,” Lest saw his sister taking off before noticing the stares coming from Arthur and Dolce, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I just need some rest, that’s all.”

Arthur took a few seconds to study Lest’s face before nodding, “Very well. Your room is up ahead.”

The group continued their walk through the same scenery, where the lines of red doors on their left were decorated with gold symbols shaped like a dragon. A brown vase of cherry grasses was placed on the left and right sides of the door. The same scenery came to a stop and Arthur turned to the couple while pointing the door on his right.

“This will be your room during your stay,” Arthur pointed out, “You may rest here while waiting for Miss Frey and I to be done with our meeting. I will see you two later.”

“Okay,” Lest turned to Dolce, “Come on, let’s go in.”

Giving a silent nod, Dolce followed Lest into the room, which was bigger than their room back in the castle in Selphia. The curtains were left wide open, revealing the big windows on the left wall of the room leading to the garden outside the castle walls. A black tall vase was placed in the left corner of the room, but it had autumn grasses instead of cherry grasses. The king-sized bed was placed on a round green carpet and at the center of the wall across the door with a nightstand on the right of the bed.

Lest let out a tired sigh and put the backpack he was carrying on the bed, “Finally!”

Dolce came over to the bed as well, sitting silently next to the backpack with Pico floating in front of Lest, _“You wouldn’t believe how much Dolly packed in there…”_

Lest let out a laugh before sitting down on the bed as well, “I don’t really mind, though. I don’t go out of town much to fight off monsters lately, so I consider this some kind of training.”

“Sweetie,” Dolce called out and turned to Lest worriedly, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Huh?” Lest looked at Dolce in confusion.

“ _You didn’t look like you’re feeling comfortable when you saw Frey,”_ Pico explained.

Dolce nodded in agreement, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Well…” Lest rubbed the back of his neck, “It feels… kind of strange actually. I never knew where I was from or who my family was and suddenly I have a sister…” Lest let out a sigh, “And I feel bad for not being able to remember her…”

“I see…” Dolce let out a smile, “You could try asking her about how both of you used to live. Maybe that will help you remember.”

“I’m not sure how much that’ll help, though,” Lest put a hand on Dolce’s as he smiled at her, “But thanks for worrying about me, Dolly.”

_“She’s not just worried about you,”_ The couple turned to Pico, who was grinning slyly, _“You should’ve seen how Dolly looks so jealous when-”_

“No,” Dolce slapped a talisman on Pico’s head, making her wince in pain.

_“D-Dolly…”_

Lest let out a laugh, “I can tell by the way you’re holding my hand.”

“S-Shut up…” Dolce turned away in embarrassment, only to make Lest laugh even more.

A knock on the door was heard, “Excuse me.”

Lest opened the door, revealing a man in a black suit carrying two boxes in his hands, “Can I help you?”

“Sir Lest, isn’t it?” The man asked, getting a nod from Lest before he handed over the boxes to Lest, “The king had ordered me to give you these clothes and shoes to be worn at the party.”

“The clothes and shoes? Okay, thank you,” Lest took the box from the man, who had bowed slightly before leaving.

Dolce rose from her seat on the bed and saw Lest putting the boxes down by her feet, “Are those the clothes we had to wear tonight?”

“Seems like it,” Lest took a peek at one of the boxes, “Yeah, and the shoes too.”

“Oh,” Dolce replied shortly, letting out a defeated sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Lest asked, noticing the sigh coming from his wife.

“It’s nothing,” Dolce let out a smile, “Let’s take a look at them first.”


	13. Our Past

Some rustling sounds were heard coming from the guest bathroom before the hazel-haired Earthmate came out. Dolce, who had started unpacking the extra clothes for their stay had noticed that her husband had emerged from the bathroom and put away the clothes she was holding before turning to the direction where Lest had come from.

Lest was wearing a black tailcoat suit with white patterns on the chest. The suit’s long sleeves were folded at end to reveal the red and white stripes underneath, along with two white lines on each sleeve. Small parts of the white Lest was wearing were hidden by the suit’s long sleeves. A thin red cloth held an empty sword sheath across his back and was secured by the black belt around his waist. A pair of black boots reaching up to his knees covered the white pants he was wearing.

“This set is surprisingly my size,” Lest took a few steps forward and tried moving his arms around, “But the boots aren’t flexible enough for me to run in and the suit is a little too thick for me to move my arms freely.”

“Of course they aren’t. It’s not like it’s made for running and exercising, genius,” Dolce commented flatly.

Pico let out a laugh, _“But Dolly thinks it looks good on you.”_

A slight blush appeared on both of their faces before Lest gave his wife a smile, “Thanks Dolly.”

“You’re… welcome…” Dolce replied nervously, “Aren’t you going to change back now? I need to try mine too.”

“Oh, right,” Lest took off his gloves and put them in the empty box on the bed, “I’ll be right back-”

A knock on the door was heard before a familiar feminine voice was heard from the other side, “Hey, can I come in?”

“Sure, come on in Frey,” The door opened to reveal the green-haired young woman.

Frey looked at his brother and gave him a smile, “Hey, that looks great on you! You look like a nobleman already!”

Lest let out a laugh before rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, “Come on, we’re not actually nobles, are we?”

The smile on Frey’s face faded for a moment, but Lest noticed the slight changes on the green-haired woman, “What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s okay,” The frown slowly lifted into a smile, “So, shall we start the tour of this castle?”

“Let me change back to my regular clothes first,” Lest let out a laugh, “I’m not used to wearing this kind of stuff.”

“Okay, I’ll be waiting for you two outside,” Frey gave Lest a slight bow, “Your majesty.”

Lest let out an annoyed sigh as he saw Frey running and laughing towards the door, “Geez…”

_“It’s hard to believe that Frey is actually Lest’s older twin,”_ Pico commented, getting Lest’s attention back.

“True,” Dolce nodded in agreement and smiled before turning to Lest, “Sweetie, you should go with her. Pico and I will stay here.”

“Wait, you’re not coming?” Lest questioned his wife’s sudden decision.

“You and Frey have a lot of catching up, don’t you?” Dolce asked with a smile, “Maybe this will help you recover part of your memory.”

“I see,” Lest gave a slight nod and smiled, “Okay, I’ll get changed and go with her.”

Dolce saw as Lest left to the bathroom once more, but was aware of the grinning ghost hovering beside her, “What?”

_“You can say it, Dolly,”_ Pico turned to Dolce with a sly grin, _“You just can’t stand watching him being friendly to other girls, correct? Even if that someone is his own sister, you know that you wanted to come along just to make sure there’s nothing between them, correct?”_

A shocked look accompanied with a slight blush came to her face before she took out one of her talisman, “That’s enough.”

A few rooms away from the pained ghost and her friend, the young blond prince was still in the audience room with the king and his butler. The king was reading the scroll he was holding before he rolled it back and handed it over to the butler standing next to him. Arthur looked at his father as his butler took the scroll and left the audience room.

“The royal research team will do what they can to decipher that text,” The king spoke up, breaking the silence in the room, “Has there been any reports of oddities in Selphia?”

“No, Father,” Arthur replied firmly, “I shall send a report if there is something unusual once I return to Selphia tomorrow.”

“Very well,” The king rose from his throne and walked down the set of stairs, stopping in front of Arthur to give him a pat on his shoulder, “I shall be relying on you, my son.”

There was silence in the room for a moment as the king walked away before Arthur nodded slightly and whispered, “Yes, Father…”

At the halls outside the room, the twins were taking a walk while Lest learned more about the past he had forgotten. Little did he notice, his sister was telling him more about her life with him rather than the life he had forgotten or their other family members. On the other hand, Lest also told Frey what had happened since he lost his memories, meeting Ventuswill, and eventually got married and invited to the party.

“I see…” Frey nodded in understanding, “It’s been rough without me, hasn’t it?”

“At first, yes…” Lest replied with a nod, “But the people in Selphia all helped me without even knowing who I am or where I’m from.”

“Selphia seems like a nice place,” Frey commented with a smile, “I’ve heard about it from Arthur on his rare visits, but I’ve never been there.”

“You can come and visit any time,” Lest responded with a smile before the smile slowly turned into a frown, “Say… you did mention that our mother had passed on when we were kids, right?” Lest turned to Frey with a sad look on his face, “What happened to her? And what about our father? Where is he now?”

Frey stopped in her tracks with a frown on her face, which made Lest stop walking as well. Frey took a deep breath and turned to Lest with a frown on her face, “I really wish that you wouldn’t ask about him, but I know that you deserve to know,” Frey put her hands on Lest’s shoulder, slightly gripping them, while looking at him with a serious look, “Especially because you have actually met him in person.”

“I’ve met him…?” Lest looked at Frey questioningly, “But who is he?”

Frey closed her eyes as her hands slipped away from Lest’s shoulder before turning away from her brother. The female Earthmate reopened her eyes as she distracted herself by looking at the garden plants, but the anger on her eyes was something that Lest couldn’t simply ignore. She felt a pat on her shoulder and took a deep breath to calm herself down, “That man… the man who bore a great grudge against us Earthmates… he was the cause of her death…”

Lest didn’t need to hear the name of his father, especially if what Frey had said just then was true, “Stop… I… I don’t want to hear it…”

“Sadly it’s true, Lest…” Frey took Lest’s hand off from her shoulder and held it with both of her hands as she turned towards his brother with teary eyes, “I can’t forget it… I can never forget that nightmare!”

**_-Flashback-_ **

_Clanging sounds of metal armor was heard throughout the halls made of pure gold and silver, heading towards the huge red metal doors at the end of the halls. A light blue-haired man slammed his fists to his throne’s arm rests, surprising the guards standing at each side of the throne. Through the strands of his long hair, the soldiers could see the glaring eyes looking at them._

_“Kill them all! All servants, mistresses, soldiers alike must be clean from those accursed Earthmates!” Another slam on the arm rests had surprised the soldiers in the throne room, “Find that brown-haired Earthmate alive and kill the rest! This is our vengeance against those who foil my plans!”_

_“Yes sir!” The soldiers marched out of the room with their weapons swinging in the air._

_A few meters away, a woman with long green hair was running while holding the hands of two five-year old children whose hair color was similar to the woman. The three would occasionally stop at the forks with the older woman looking around before taking one of the paths which would be safe for them to pass. Another fork came into view and the three stopped behind one of the walls, looking around for any signs of danger._

_“Mom, I’m scared…” One of the children, a boy, pulled on the woman’s clothes while sniffling._

_“It’s okay, Lest,” The woman knelt down and gave the boy a comforting hug while rubbing his back, “Everything is going to be okay…”_

_“Mommy!” The other child, a girl pulled the woman’s clothes in panic, “Metal people are coming!”_

_The woman noticed the clanging sounds which had got louder and louder, “We have to hurry,” The woman got back to her feet and picked the boy up before offering a hand to the girl, “Hold my hand, Frey.”_

_The girl did as told as the three of them ran into one of the pathways, only to be stopped by a group of soldiers with their spears pointed forward. The woman turned to the side, protecting the boy from the possible assault from the soldiers as the girl hugged her mother’s leg in fear. One of the soldiers stepped closer with his spear, making the woman step back._

_“Lady Sara! Your and your children’s escape ends here!” The soldier extended his hand and let his spear point at the woman’s neck._

_“I shall not surrender my children!” The woman, Sara, put the boy down and stood in front of the two children with her arms spread, “They are our future and I shall never hand their lives to the likes of you or Ethelberd!”_

_The soldier in front saw the unwavering resolve of a mother protecting her children and put his spear back to his side, “Soldiers, ready your weapons!”_

_The woman, Sara, quickly took the hands of her children and ran to the opposite side of the soldiers, with the soldiers chasing them while carrying swords and spears. The three of them ran through the maze of hallways with the sounds of clanging metal tailing behind them, pushing through the servants who had blocked their way of escape._

_“Lady Sara, this way!” A female servant waved her hands while standing in front of a big black door, getting the attention of the running triplet._

_Panting, the three came into a stop in front of the servant before Sara let out a tired smile, “Thank you…”_

_“I will never forget your kindness towards my family, milady,” The servant smiled back before she pushed the door open, “I have broken the window for you and the children to escape. My sister will be waiting for you outside.”_

_“Yes, please be-AH!” An arrow landed on her left shoulder before she turned around and saw that the marching soldiers had almost reached them._

_“Mommy! Mommy, are you okay?” The boy cried out, seeing the red liquid had stained his mother’s pure white clothes._

_“Please be okay, Mommy!” The girl was looking at the pained mother in worry._

_“Lady Sara, please hold on!” The servant looked at the end of the arrow and gasped in surprise as she saw black liquid dripping from the end, “P-Poison?!”_

_“Please… take the children…” Sara whispered weakly, “This… is deadly poison… I… cannot survive… for long…”_

_“Y-Yes… milady…” The servant saw as the woman slowly dropped to her knees weakly and saw the approaching soldiers before she pushed the children into the room._

_The two children fell onto the carpet-covered floor and saw their mother’s weak smile as she was lying on the floor while the door was being forced shut from the outside. The boy was about to reach for the door in tears, only to be pulled by the girl._

_“No Lest! The metal people will take us too!” The girl pulled her brother’s arm as he struggled before forcing him into a hug._

_“But Frey… Mommy is out there! Mommy is hurt!” The boy kept on whining as he struggled to break free from his sister’s hug, although the boy knew himself that his hope of seeing his mother was a waste._

**_-End of Flashback-_ **

The two Earthmates stood in silence before tears started falling from Frey’s face. Lest looked at Frey sadly before giving her a comforting hug. The male Earthmate patted his crying sister, although the sadness he felt wasn’t the same as his sister felt. He never remembered how sad it was to remember how their mother had died as he was only told the feeling instead of feeling it himself.

Frey slowly pulled away from the hug and wiped her tears, “Hey, Lest?”

“What is it?” Lest asked calmly.

“There’s one more thing that I want to return to you,” Frey spoke up in a whisper before taking out a small black fish-like figure from her pocket, “Here’s our family heirloom from our mother’s side.”

Lest took the figure, which had a thin string hanging on it, “What is this?”

“Mom said it’s a charm to protect relations of the bearers,” Frey took out a similar charm, but it was white in color, “This is a koi fish, a type of fish that’s native to our grandmother’s homeland at the East.”

“A koi fish…” Lest put the charm on his palm and ran a finger on it.

Frey slowly nodded, “It’s supposed to connect families, siblings… and even couples…”

“I… see…” Lest took his charm and put it in his pocket before looking at the charm Frey was wearing, “So the charm is to protect us as siblings?”

“Yeah,” Frey nodded and smiled sadly, “Although you don’t have the charm with you, I think they’re uniting us back together.”

“I guess they did,” Lest returned the smile, “Should we resume the tour?”

“Okay, let me show you the audience room and the dining hall next!” Frey replied with a nod before they continued with their walk.

Back in Dolce’s and Lest’s guestroom, Dolce had just finished changing and came out of the bathroom. Her slow walking had brought a laugh to her ghost friend, who was hovering above the bed.

“This… this too revealing…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case if anyone is wondering, the clothes Lest wears in this chapter is actually Luke's Viscount costume (from Tales of the Abyss) and the name Sara is actually inspired from Sara in Tales of Link due to the game's closing.


	14. The Memorable Evening

The sky had turned dark as nighttime had finally come. The castle halls were lit by small torches set on the pillars, illuminating dark and empty halls. The lamps of the guest rooms were mostly turned off as the rooms’ habitants had left towards the ballroom for the royal party, leaving a certain couple still in their room.

The hazel-haired Earthmate was sitting on the huge bed and had already dressed in the nobleman outfit he was lent. He was waiting patiently for his wife to finish changing, until the ghost girl’s giggling had caught his attention. Pico was hovering back and forth in front of the bathroom door impatiently while having a sly grin on her face.

Lest noticed the ghost’s behavior and called out to her, “Is there anything I should know, Pico?”

Pico was wearing her usual outfit as Dolce and Pico made a deal that Pico wouldn’t give anyone a heart attack from appearing suddenly in the ballroom. Lest was aware of the deal between the two girls, knowing that Pico would say things to embarrass Dolce. It was a common thing between the two that Lest had grown used to.

Pico stopped going back and forth and turned to Lest with her grin still on her face, _“Milady has been looking forward to show-”_

The ghost’s words were cut off by the talisman landing on her face, coming from the now-opened bathroom door. The female Guardian came out hesitantly, revealing the dress she was wearing. The hazel-haired Earthmate rose to his feet while looking at his wife in awe.

Dolce was wearing a black sleeveless dress with frills in pink color at the bottom. The parts over her shoulders were white in color, the same color as the gloves reaching up to her upper arms. Her back and the area between her breasts were left bare and a diamond-shaped hole revealed a bit of her belly. She was wearing a pair of dark purple pumps and her wavy pink hair was left in a single ponytail instead of her usual twin tails.

“S-Sweetie,” The female Guardian spoke up nervously, “W-What do you think… about my dress?”

“U-Uh… well…” Lest rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “Great! I-I mean, you look great! Beautiful, even!”

“O-Oh…” A flush of red appeared on the Guardian’s face.

_“It’s just like I told you, milady,”_ Pico, who had already recovered from the talisman attack, hovered back to Dolce’s side, _“Aren’t you glad to get a compliment from him?”_

“Huh?” Lest turned away from Pico and looked at his wife in confusion, “Wait, are you worried that I’d think the dress won’t suit you?”

_“But that’s not what you think, right?”_ Pico asked with a grin.

Lest gave Pico a nod, before turning to Dolce with a warm smile, “Yes, I really think it suits you well, Dolly. You look absolutely stunning.”

Dolce’s face became redder and redder as she stared at her husband in shock before turning away in embarrassment, “L-Liar… stop teasing me…”

Pico watched her best friend with a smile as Lest let out a chuckle before he extended a hand to Dolce, “Well, shall we be on our way?”

“O-Okay,” The female Guardian took his hand before heading out of the room with the barely-visible Pico following closely behind them.

It was quite a long walk towards the ballroom where the party was held. The two slowly made their way as the female Guardian wasn’t used to the type of shoes she was wearing. Lucky for her, Lest was there to watch over her in case she fell while following her slow walking pace. Dolce was too occupied with her walking to notice the giggling ghost behind her as she stumbled on a tile.

Lest quickly caught her before she hit the floor face first and saved her from much more embarrassment. Lest slowly helped her get back to her feet as Dolce watched him quietly. The blue lights coming from the garden lights were reflected on a part of his face and his eyes as he turned to look at her, much to her surprise. He had saved her from embarrassment for falling, but being caught watching was almost as embarrassing for her.

Lest knew that he had caught her watching him, but teasing her further might not be the best idea. He had always loved her especially when she was embarrassed, but he had saved the teasing to Pico, who was having a hard time stopping herself from laughing. It was Dolce’s light smack on the ghost’s head which had stopped the laughing before they continued their way towards the ballroom.

The giant red doors heading into the ballroom was wide open with two guards standing on each side of the door. As the three approached the door, the guards crossed the spears they were holding.

“Please state your name and the region you are representing for,” The guard on the right said sternly.

“Lest and Dolce, from Selphia,” Lest answered shortly before the two guards unblocked the entrance.

The guard on the left slammed his spear to the ground, surprising the three, “Sir Lest and Lady Dolce from Selphia!”

The three recovered from the sudden shock before heading into the ballroom and down the stairs. The stairs were shaped into a slight curve, covered with a red carpet which had golden edges. A big chandelier was hanging high up on the ceiling, right above the people who were dancing waltz in the middle of the huge ballroom. Various types of food were lined up on the tables on the left and right sides of the room with many nobles dressed in formal clothes standing in the room while talking in groups or pairs. An older man with a golden crown was sitting on a big lone chair at the other end of the room while talking to a younger man who was carrying a tray of drinks.

Lest slowly helped Dolce walk down the stairs before they admired the festive but formal atmosphere in the room. As they walked away from the stairs, a familiar voice called out to them.

“Hey, you two!” The green-haired young woman approached the couple, greeting them with a smile.

Frey was wearing a turquoise top and a light green undershirt which left her shoulders and her upper chest bare. Her hands were covered with white gloves which reached her upper arms and had lacy turquoise ends. Her legs were covered with thin white stockings reaching down into her white and turquoise heels.

Frey took the ends of her top before slightly lowering her body to bow at the confused couple, “Your presence within this ballroom pleases me, Sir.”

“What… are you doing?” Lest responded in confusion, getting an elbow from his wife.

“Stupid… We should bow in respect!” It was Dolce’s turn to bow towards the female Earthmate, “My apologies for his inappropriate behavior.”

A slight chuckle came from the bowing Earthmate, “That’s okay,” Frey looked up at the two with a smile, “I’m just kidding, I’m not here as a noblewoman.”

“Yeah, sure…” The male Earthmate shrugged before he continued looking around the ballroom, “So… what should we be doing here in these kinds of events anyways? We don’t have these kinds of things back home.”

Frey moved to his side, showing the dancing couples in the middle of the room, “Ballroom dancing is one thing, like I told you yesterday. Guys will be the one asking the girls to dance in these events,” Frey raised her arm to point at the tables with food served on them, “Or, you can enjoy some food and drinks served by the royal chefs.”

Frey noticed that the female Guardian had started eyeing the sweets prepared on the tables, but the figure behind the couple who had just arrived had caught her attention before she could comment on Dolce’s behavior, “Sorry, I need to be somewhere else tonight. I hope you lovebirds enjoy your time together here and I’ll see you later!”

Frey quickly left the scene, leaving the two newlyweds to themselves. Lest turned back to Dolce and noticed the smaller figure hiding behind her. Pico was looking straight at him as if she was giving him a message to do something. Lest saw that Dolce had her attention to the sweets before leaving him and Pico to go to the table of desserts.

“What is it, Pico?” Lest asked in a whisper before she flew behind him, but high enough for her to reach his ears.

_“Don’t you want to ask Dolly for a dance?”_ Pico asked nonchalantly.

“W-Well…” Lest watched his wife as she looked at the served desserts before slightly turning his head towards Pico, “I can’t really dance, you know…”

_“But Dolly is the queen of ballroom dancing, so it’s okay! Come on, let’s go get her!”_ Pico flew from Lest’s shoulder excitedly, hovering towards Dolce by the table, _“Dolly!”_

Dolce responded to the sudden call and turned around to grab Pico as she launched herself at her face, “You’re going to scare the guests in the ballroom, you know.”

Lest approached the two with a chuckle as Pico tried to break free from Dolce’s grip on her face, _“I was just telling Lest your little secret,”_ Pico gave her a wink, _“Your secret that involves ballroom parties,”_ The sly grin on the ghost’s face had brought red color to the Guardian’s face.

“S-So? Shouldn’t it be the man to ask the woman to dance instead of the other way around?” Dolce asked nervously as she turned her face away from Lest.

_“Good luck with the rest, Lest!”_ Pico left for her previous spot behind Dolce, leaving the Earthmate to watch his nervous wife.

Lest rubbed the back of his head nervously, “I can’t really dance, actually,” Lest offered a hand to Dolce, “But if you’re fine with it, shall we dance?”

Dolce looked nervously at Lest, turned to look at his offered hand, and then back to him with a smile, “Yes…”

The couple went to dance on the dance floor, surrounded by the other dancing couples. Despite not being a dancer, Lest found himself in sync with his wife as they danced. Even with the other people dancing, the two of them felt like it was only the two of them who were dancing. Or rather, it felt like they were enjoying themselves as if they were the only ones living in their own little world.

The party soon came into the end at midnight and the guests started leaving the ballroom towards their own guestrooms or back to their homeland. The Earthmate-Guardian couple was walking back to their room together along with the ghost girl hovering in front of them. The hallways were empty and Pico was free to fly around without worrying that her presence might shock anyone in the castle.

The couple walked quietly with smiles on their faces, but the smile on Dolce’s face faded as she turned to her left and looked at the sky. The both of them came to a stop in their walking as they had reached their door, but Dolce’s attention was still on the sky. She was looking at the full moon shining bright in the sky and the sight of the moon and the starry sky had brought her past memories to the surface.

“Pico,” Dolce called out to the ghost, but her eyes never left the moon in the sky, “Do you still remember that day?”

Pico looked at her friend in silence before flying to her other side, _“Of course. The sky that night was just like this, wasn’t it?”_

Lest looked at the two in confusion, “If you don’t mind me asking, what day do you two mean anyway?”

“Ah, I haven’t told you yet, have I?” Dolce turned to the Earthmate with a sad smile on her face, “The last night before I became a Guardian.”

“Oh, I see…” Lest and Dolce turned to look back at the full moon, “Do you want to talk to me about it?”

Dolce slowly nodded, “Yes. There’s no reason for me to keep it from you.”

**_-Flashback-_ **

_It was a night that would be different for Dolce, Pico, and their family, knowing that it would be their last night together. Even so, Dolce and Pico felt that it was just any other nights and any other family dinners they had all the time. Dolce’s father was a magician who would jokingly praise himself or his magic tricks, but either his mother or herself would strike his praises as being a regular thing. In the end, Pico would comment on how similar Dolce was to her mother but hardly like her father and the whole family would laugh together._

_Their family dinner was more or less just like any other dinner they always had for many years. It felt like nothing big was going to happen and things would go just like any other regular days for many days, months, or even years ahead. Nobody dared to bring up the topic of Ventuswill and Dolce being a Guardian. It was just a regular family dinner, although a certain young adult was expecting a little more for her last day with her family. Yet she never actually showed it to anyone, not to Pico and definitely not to her parents._

_When the family had finished dinner, Dolce found herself looking up at the sky while leaning on the wooden fence of her small balcony. Pico was watching her from inside the house, but didn’t dare to come closer as she needed some time on her own. Her own connection to Dolce had revealed a bit of her sadness, even though Dolce wouldn’t admit it herself._

_The sound of footsteps got louder before stopping by the door where Pico was staying. The ghost girl noticed the figure, who had kept her in silence before the figure continued towards Dolce’s side and called out to her._

_“You’re going to catch a cold, my little bunny,” The sudden voice had slightly surprised Dolce, who then turned around to see her father standing behind her, “You should put on a coat before going outside around this time of the year.”_

_Dolce let out a sigh before letting out a small smile, “I’m fine Dad, you worry too much.”_

_The man let out a chuckle, “It should be normal for a father to be worried about their children’s health, correct?” Dolce’s father went to her side and looked at her as he slightly leaned on the fence, “Is there anything in your mind, Dolce? Is it about tomorrow?”_

_Dolce didn’t respond to her father’s question and turned away from her father, but her silence was the answer he had expected._

_He put a hand on Dolce’s shoulder before letting out a smile, “There’s no need to worry about Pico, your mother, and myself. We will always be waiting for your safe return once things have settled down regarding Lady Ventuswill’s condition.”_

_There was still no response from Dolce, who kept her face hidden away from her father. Her father never knew about the details about being a Guardian as Dolce had never told her parents much about it. Her decision of becoming a Guardian to save her dragon best friend wasn’t an easy one and it took her some time before Pico and her parents finally let her do it. Even without being told the whole story, Dolce’s parents knew that they might never see their daughter again in their lifetime._

_With no response coming from Dolce, her father let out a light chuckle before taking a flat round object from his black coat. He pushed the center of the object slightly, turning the unrecognized object into a black top hat before he put it on his daughter’s head. Dolce turned to her father in surprise as he looked at her with a loving smile, “D-Dad…?” Dolce looked up at the hat he had her wear, “But isn’t this your favorite hat?”_

_The man nodded in response, “Yes,” He pulled Dolce into a hug, much to her surprise, “That’s why you must treasure it and return it to me when you come back.”_

_“Yes…” Dolce returned the hug before noticing that her mother was also watching by the door along with Pico before the older woman approached them as well._

_“Dolly,” Her mother’s voice came as a whisper before handing out a single flower she was holding in her hands, “Here, hold this moondrop flower when you go tomorrow. As long as you have that flower, your mom and dad will always be there with you and we will always be waiting for your return.”_

_“Mom…” Dolce took the flower and looked at it as she held in in her hands, “Mom… Dad… but I…”_

_“It’s fine, dear,” It was her mother’s turn to give her a hug, “We will look after Pico and the house until you come home. No matter how long it takes, we will always be by your side.”_

_A single tear escaped from her eyes as she buried her face on her mother’s neck. Her father pulled both women into a hug before Dolce finally broke down crying. It was the first time in her life she had cried so openly in front of her whole family as the whole pain and sadness finally caught up to her. She would want to lock herself in her room and left Pico out to cry on her own, but she couldn’t keep everything bottled up anymore._

_Pico watched the family group hug on the balcony, but she couldn’t bring herself closer to them. She might have stayed with them for many years, but there were times when she would feel left out as if she was just a random stranger in the family. But every time that sort of thoughts came into her mind, Dolce would look at her and asked her to join in with them as a family._

_It was just as the ghost had expected, Dolce had turned to look at her with slightly teary eyes, asking her to join them as they spent their last night together as a family and watched the moon and the stars. The cool weather of autumn didn’t bother them as they watched the full moon surrounded by the stars in the night sky._

**_-End of Flashback-_ **

“I can never forget that night,” Dolce ended her story in a whisper.

“Dolly,” Lest turned to Dolce and took both of her hands in his in front of them, “I’m sure they’re always watching over you. I don’t remember how it’s like to have a parent, but I can feel your family’s warmth from what you told me.”

“Yes, I know,” Lest released her hands as he noticed a single tear sliding off her cheek and gently wiped it with his gloved hands, “Sweetie, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to tell you a sad story tonight…”

“It’s not a sad story, you know,” Lest replied with a comforting smile, “But if you want to cry, I’ll hold and comfort you until you feel better. I promise I’ll be there for you no matter what,” Lest put a hand on Dolce’s cheek, “Because I love you, Dolly”

Dolce let out a small smile, “And I love you too, sweetie…”

They closed the distance between them as they lips met, sharing a kiss under the light of the full moon. It was another moment in the night in which they felt like they were the only ones in the world. They were lost in their own world, completely ignorant to the fact that a certain ghost had silently left to give the couple some privacy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More costumes here inspired from the Tales of Series: Dolce's is Judith's costume for the title "Invitation into the Gorgeous Night" from Tales of Vesperia (PS3 version only) and Frey's is Natalia's costume for the title "Beloved Princess" from Tales of the Abyss. Any action scenes will come most likely in the next chapter, so look forward to it!


	15. Corrupted

_It was pitch black all around him. The hazel-haired Earthmate opened his eyes and looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. Tall leafless trees were the only ones he could see on his left, right and front along with the cloudy night sky above him. He took some steps away from his initial spot and the sound of dried leaves being crushed was the only sound he could hear. He walked as he called out for his friends, but he was surprised that no voice came out. It was as if he couldn’t talk at all._

_The atmosphere of the forest of dead trees was starting to make him more uneasy and he quickened his walking pace straight forward. He didn’t know where he was or how he got there in the first place, but he felt that something was wrong in the area. The air was fresh, the forest was quiet, but he couldn’t feel any signs of life coming from the forest at all. He couldn’t feel any signs of rune energy flowing like he used to and the thickening fog was making him feel worse._

_Lest stopped in his tracks in the middle of the foggy forest and looked around at his barely visible surroundings. After all those years of battling monsters, his senses were telling him that something was there with him within the foggy area. He stood still as he was trying to pinpoint the other presence as the sound of footsteps was getting louder and louder._

_A low growl came from behind him suddenly, making the Earthmate turn around instinctively to look straight at a pair of glowing red eyes. Lest quickly reached for his sword sheath, but it wasn’t on its place. He was completely armless with something or someone trying to attack him in a bad environment. The red glow suddenly disappeared from his sight, which had Lest slightly lower his guard, only to be welcomed by a box-like shape shoved against his stomach._

_The impact had knocked Lest towards the tree behind him, but the presence quickly left the area before Lest could have a chance to counter. Lest got back to his feet to be greeted by the blowing wind with the scent of flowers. The scent became stronger as a strong wind blew past him, knocking him several feet back._

_Lest had held on to a tree before he could fall from the sudden wind, but he could still hear footsteps getting louder and louder. He turned to hide behind the tree and hoped to see who or what was approaching him at high speed, but the fog had limited his vision down to only a few meters in front of him. He could hear the sound of a screeching horse before the tree he had used to hide broke and he was sent flying from his attacker’s sudden impact._

_The Earthmate landed hard on the sea of dried leaves into a small clearing with a single narrow path created by his attacker as broken tree trunks were all over the place. Lest could feel a slight pain coming from his legs as he slowly rose to his feet while looking at the pathway in front of him. The fog had slightly cleared out as some light from the moon had shone on the small clearing, but Lest could only make out blurry silhouettes of his previous attackers._

_His attention shifted when a familiar cry was heard. It was the familiar pained roar of his best friend, and the silhouette of her had slowly shown itself to Lest along with the silhouettes of Lest’s previous attackers. Much to his horror, his previous attackers had some familiar shapes which he had never forgotten. It was a silhouette of a butterfly flying around as if it was dancing around the struggling dragon, a silhouette of a horse ramming the dragon’s body, and a silhouette of a coffin box flying near the dragon with a faint red color between the two silhouettes._

_Lest knew that he had to run and save his friend once more, but his legs had betrayed him as he couldn’t move them at all. The pained roar had cut through all the quietness in the forest, but Lest couldn’t even move to do anything to help her. He forced himself to move, but stopped as he felt another presence from behind him. He had braced himself for any other attacks which might come, only to be greeted by a soft object falling on his head._

_The object fell to Lest’s feet and he saw that a wooly doll was the object which had hit his head. He looked up at the sky and saw more dolls falling on top of him, but all of the dolls were harmless towards him. When the raining dolls had stopped, a tall shadow was cast over him and made Lest turn to look at the source of the shadow. He suddenly felt something grabbing his chest as he turned around, making him unable to take a good look at his attacker._

_Lest only caught a glimpse and the only things he could see were the glowing red eyes and the hat he used to seeing daily._

The Earthmate opened his eyes and sat up on the bed quickly while panting, only to realize that everything he had experienced was just a nightmare. He breathed a sigh of relief before noticing and extra weight on his pajamas. A hand was clinging onto his top, coming from his still sleeping wife beside him. He let out a small smile as he watched Dolce’s sleeping figure with Pico on the other side of the bed.

Lest gently held her hand to his chest before stroking the female Guardian’s long wavy hair as he watched her peaceful sleep. The exhaustion from the night’s events had kept her from being awakened by Lest’s sudden movement and he decided that he shouldn’t be waking her up over midnight for his own problems. He laid back on the bed while still holding her hand and drifted back to sleep, completely unaware that his wife had already been awakened earlier. Dolce kept her own position and let Lest hold her hand before going back to sleep with a contented smile on her face.

* * *

It was an hour past midnight. The castle was quiet as the guests had either left the kingdom or rested in the guestrooms. The sound of footsteps echoed in the empty halls before the door leading towards the king’s audience chamber opened up and shed some light into the empty halls. The king was sitting on his throne along with Arthur by his side, waiting for the person to approach them with a polite bow.

“Please forgive me for having you present at this hour, Miss Frey,” The king spoke up.

“It is fine, Your Majesty,” Frey looked up at the king with a smile, “I’m grateful for all the things you have done for me in the past and I’m offering my service in order to repay your kindness.”

The king nodded slightly and returned her smile, “Very well,” The king turned to the blond young man beside him, “Arthur, would you please inform Miss Frey of the latest status in Selphia?”

“Certainly, Father,” Arthur turned his eyes from his father and towards the pieces of paper he had been holding before fixing his glasses, “The head of our kingdom’s guard division had sent a report earlier tonight, as I had informed you before during the party. Some of the scouts he had sent reported that dark fog had started forming around four different areas. Those areas are-”

“If I have to guess…” Frey suddenly spoke up, cutting off Arthur’s explanation as his attention turned to her, “They are areas around Yokmir Forest, Water Ruins, Obsidian Mansion, and Leon Karnak, aren’t they?”

Arthur looked back at the report he was holding and nodded, “Yes, those are the areas with rune spots. It seems like the corruption is slowly spreading around Selphia.”

“I see…” Frey turned her attention away from Arthur and looked up at the king, “Your Majesty, if I may-”

“I cannot allow you to go,” The king’s stern voice had silenced the Earthmate, “Given your condition and your abilities as an Earthmate, you are most likely to fall victim to the corrupted runes.”

“Given… her condition?” Arthur turned to his father in confusion, “Father, is Frey currently ill?”

The king didn’t turn to look at the blond merchant and kept looking at Frey, who had lowered her head. The whole room went silent for a moment until Frey went down to her knees, bowing down completely to the king, “I beg of you, Your Majesty…” Frey looked up at the two men with teary eyes, “I can’t… I don’t want to let him get hurt…” Frey’s head fell back to her hands, bowing at the king once more, “It’s my mother’s final wish for me to take care of Lest in her place… I know now I have the strength to keep that promise!”

The king looked down in silence before suddenly rising from his throne, much to Arthur’s surprise, “Father? Is there… is there something between you and Frey in the past?”

“Arthur,” The king spoke up quietly, but it was loud enough for Arthur to hear, “You might not have understood it. A mother truly cares for her children, just like how theirs care for them,” The king turned to look at his son, “I cannot change how you view your mother, however. When the time comes, you will learn how your mother truly feels for you, her son.”

Arthur looked at his father quietly before turning to head for the door, passing through the still-bowing Earthmate, “I shall head for my room to think.”

The blond merchant left the audience chamber before the king went down to Frey’s level as she had slowly risen to her feet. Her eyes still showed the same determination as when she asked for her mission a few minutes before. The king let out a nod and smiled, “I assume that you are aware of the risks and are still determined to complete the mission.”

Frey let out a nod, “Yes, I will complete this mission in place of my former subordinates within the intelligence division in order to atone for my previous failure. That failure is the start of everything happening in Selphia and it is my duty to end it.”

“Yes,” The king nodded in agreement, “You may consider this mission your last mission I give you, the head of the kingdom’s intelligence division.”

Frey saluted confidently, “Yes, sir!”

* * *

It was the fourth day of fall and the weather had cooled down enough after the hot summer weather. The restaurant in Selphia hadn’t opened for the day just yet, but the restaurant’s chef famous for eating his customer’s orders had already been busy in the kitchen. The plump chef had paced back and forth between the stoves and the kitchen counter while carrying some cooked dishes, but not without having a bite or two on the dishes.

A finished apple pie was set down on the counter beside a plate of cookies, but the chef’s hand found itself trying to take one of the cookies before it was prevented by having the whole plate taken away just in time, “Hold it! These are for today’s contest, remember?”

The chef let out a disappointed sigh, “But I’m hungry…” As if it was done subconsciously, his hand found itself once again at the apple pie, but the man quickly snagged the plate away and let himself fall in his attempt on saving the food, “Dylas! Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Dylas slowly got up and took the plates with him as he walked towards the kitchen, “I’ll help with the cooking today so it’ll be done faster,” Dylas stopped in his tracks and set the plates at a safe distance from Porcoline’s reach as he looked at him, “Didn’t Margaret say that she’s going to help out as well?”

“Oh, yes!” Porcoline grabbed a bar of chocolate from his pocket and started nibbling on it, “Meg should be here to help delivering the food to the plaza.”

The kitchen door suddenly slammed open, surprising the two men in the room, “I’m sorry I’m late!” The female elf noticed the blue-haired figure standing in front of the counter filled with various cooked food, “Dylas? Are you helping out today too?”

“Well, sort of,” Dylas shortly replied before he snagged another plate before Porcoline could get it, “I have to keep an eye on him in case he eats anything that’s to be served in today’s contest.”

Margaret put her hands on her hips as she let out a sigh, “Porco! You can’t eat the food before the festival started!” The elf turned to look at Dylas, “But are you sure you can help out today? You look a little pale.”

“Huh? D-Do I?” Dylas asked nervously, “No, I’m fine. You should start delivering the food before Porcoline devour everything.”

“You’re not fine, Dylas,” Margaret scolded sternly before she dragged him away from the counter and out of the kitchen, “I’ll keep an eye on Porco so you can get some rest, okay?”

Dylas stood in silence for a moment as Margaret went back into the kitchen, only to hear her scolding the chef once more for eating the dishes. Dylas let out a slight chuckle before pulling a chair for him to sit on, “Fine, I’ll leave him to you.”

Hours had passed and the contest had finally started. The townsfolk had gathered in the plaza with the competing contestants sitting in front of long tables with some fruits and dishes on it. Margaret and Dylas were standing by the table with the rest of the fruits and dishes for when the contestants asked for more. Volkanon acted as both the judge and the commentator, though his latter job couldn’t be performed better with the loud crowd cheering in the background. A very full Forte was walking around the area to make sure the contest went smoothly as she claimed, though she was walking around as she had eaten too much during her participation.

The stack of plates piled up quickly on Porcoline’s side while the other contestants had started falling from the massive amount of food they had. The attention of the crowd was fixed on the final two contestants still eating, which were Porcoline and Doug. Doug’s stack was less than half of Porcoline’s, but his determination had earned the crowd’s attention. As the crowd’s attention was fixed on the contest, nobody had noticed that a single person had emerged from the crowd while walking unsteadily.

Dylas had passed the next plate to Doug and was about to return for more dishes, but a single out-of-place figure behind Porcoline had caught his attention. The figure put his hand on his sword hilt, ready to unsheathe his sword, but the Guardian was fast enough to run towards the other side of the table, “Porcoline! Look out!”

The chef stopped eating and turned to the source of the voice, completely unaware of the situation. Dylas quickly ran towards the plump chef and pushed him off his seat, leaving himself open for any possible attack. He braced himself as the sword was raised above the figure’s head, but the sword was blocked in time before it could hit its intended target.

Forte held her sword tightly before twisting it, exposing the attacker for more attacks and letting him fall helplessly. The knight turned to Dylas, who was still standing on his spot in shock, “I’ll take care of this! Get everyone to safety!”

“R-Right! Sorry!” Dylas helped Porcoline back to his feet before turning to the rest of the crowd watching the whole scene, “Stay out of the plaza! It’s not safe to be hanging around here!”

Forte watched cautiously as the crowd made their way out of the plaza and into the castle before turning back to her opponent. The figure was wearing armor just like she was, but the different style of armor enabled her to recognize that the attacker wasn’t a soldier from the Kingdom of Norad. As the man was slowly trying to get up, Forte pointed her sword at his throat, “State your business in Selphia, soldier!”

“Business…” The man’s stance was wobbly as if he was drunk, but his hand never let go of his sword as he raised it against her single-handedly, “Business here… ya say…?” The wobbly stance suddenly shifted into a much refined one as he held his sword with both of his hands. The man looked at the dragon knight with a pair of glowing red eyes before a dark aura covered his whole body, “To destroy… YOU!”

The soldier charged quickly with his sword pointed forward, but Forte managed to move to her left and had her shield up in defense. She charged in to counter, but the soldier had quickly turned around and clashed her sword with his own. Forte tried moving her sword left and right to find an opening, but their swords kept locked together making her take a big step backwards to find a better opening to strike.

The soldier charged in once more, leaving their swords locked together again. The soldier pushed their locked swords to the side and left Forte out in the open, but she was quick enough to recover and raised her shield on her arm to block the incoming attack. Realizing his attack had failed, the soldier kicked Forte angrily on her stomach, knocking her to the ground. She wasn’t given time to recover as the soldier had pinned her down with his sword down on Forte’s raised shield.

Using every ounce of strength she could gather, Forte pushed to soldier to the side and gave her some time to get back to her feet. After all those relentless attacks from him, the dragon knight was panting in exhaustion as she raised her sword once more. As the soldier was trying to stand up, Forte quickly charged in to strike with her sword. The impact had pushed the soldier back as he walked backwards while trying to keep himself from falling.

Forte gave him another push, which put him in an unbalanced position, before rushing toward him and landed a single slash across his armored abdomen. A single scar was left on the armor, but much to her surprise, more dark aura came pouring out from the scar, which was deep enough to hurt his skin. The soldier let out a loud groaning sound before putting both of his hands on his head.

“S… Stop… no…” The soldier whispered between his pained groans before slowly bringing himself to look at the knight with his eyes, which were no longer glowing, “Hit… hit… me…”

The soldier dropped his sword, leaving the knight to look at him in confusion, “Huh?” Forte lowered her sword in confusion, “What… what do you mean?”

“… can’t… hold it…” The soldier let out another pained groan before his eyes glowed in red once more as he looked at her, “Try and stop me, knight! I am better than the likes of you!”

The soldier picked up his fallen sword to charge at her once more, but Forte quickly moved out of the way. The soldier passed by her and still had his back turned to her, leaving his back exposed to Forte’s sword. A slight, hesitant swing of her sword left a slight scar on the back, but not enough to actually wound him. He pushed himself back to his feet and quickly turned to Forte along with a swing of his sword, but his sword met with hers for a moment as she had pushed the sword to the opposite side.

The push had given her enough momentum to spin her body along with her sword for almost a full circle. Forte put both her hands much closer to her sword’s crossguard, leaving the end of the hilt exposed as she raised her sword to her opponent’s eye level. She brought the blunt side of her sword to the soldier’s helmet hard enough to cause a dent as he felt to her feet.

Forte stood still for a moment, but saw that the soldier had barely moved from the spot where he fell. She cautiously walked to face the soldier, who was trying to reach for her in his shaky arm. She knelt down and saw that the dark aura surrounding him had slowly vanished as he looked at her with his normal eyes.

“I’ll get some help for you,” Forte stood up and was about to leave the scene when the soldier suddenly grabbed her foot, “H-Huh?”

“H-Help… him…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The action scene at end is basically a compilation of 'events' happening in my previous kendo matches, from practice and tournament matches. The only differences are the fact that attacking from other sides but the front is illegal and no shields are used during the actual matches, only body armor and a bamboo sword (or two, but there are none who can use two in my dojo).


	16. Reason of Attack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I couldn't write as much when revision was still at large since a few weeks ago, so I can only finish this up this week. Anyways, enjoy!

“The runes are… corrupted?” Lest asked as he stood in front of Arthur, who was sitting on his desk.

“Correct,” Arthur answered with a nod before his eyes went back to the pages of an old book on his desk, “I haven’t got the details of the cause, but it seems like the corruption had just started spreading a few days ago.”

“I see…” Lest watched as the blond merchant went through the worn pages of the book, “Is that book related to this corrupted runes problem?”

“It is most likely,” Arthur took out a piece of paper with some writings from his drawer and put it on top of the book, “Sadly, this book isn’t fully translated yet. The capital is currently trying to look into it, but…”

“But…?”

“It is almost like my father is hiding something,” Arthur’s eyes never left the book and the paper as he continued, “I assume that it has something to do with the cause of the corruption itself, though I have no proof for that sort of claim.”

“Excuse me,” Arthur and Lest turned to the door, revealing the dragon knight as she entered the room, “The condition in town after the festival today wasn’t as good as it should be.”

“Wait, did something else happen here today?” Lest asked worriedly as he looked at Forte standing beside him.

“Yes, although it wasn’t as bad as the previous incident,” Forte replied in disappointment, “I managed to capture a couple of Sechs soldiers hanging around suspiciously and bothering a few tourists around the plaza. The one who attacked Porcoline has woken up, but he doesn’t remember why he attacked him in the first place.”

“I will have the two soldiers sent to the capital for questioning for now,” The blond merchant closed the book and looked up at the two, “From what I’ve known, the people having corrupted runes still have their memories of what they do. If we can find out who told them to come here, we might be able to resolve this situation.”

“But where does this corruption come from?” Forte asked, getting Arthur’s attention, “Kiel never knew about this until he read the book you gave him.”

“So this never happened here before?” Lest asked the two.

Arthur shook his head, “No, this is the first time for us. It might not be the first one for Selphia because there seems to be records about corrupted runes, though. The records for these cases are within the capital’s archives, but all of them are quite old.”

“I think we should ask that soldier for details, knowing that he’s awake now…” Lest suggested and Arthur gave him a look before nodding.

“Very well. I will be hearing from you soon, Lest,” Lest left the office, leaving the merchant and the dragon knight in the room.

“Arthur,” Forte called out to the blond merchant, who turned to her in response, “What was the cause of the first occurrence of the corrupted runes?”

“I haven’t translated that part, unfortunately,” Arthur reopened the book and put his finger on the piece of paper inside the book, “If I put the translated parts of the book together, the reason for the corrupted runes is most likely because of a person’s selfish desire.”

“Selfish desire…”

* * *

The female Earthmate was standing by the clinic’s bed while watching the recovering soldier gulping down the glass of water he was holding. He put the glass down on the table beside his bed before turning to the Earthmate with a satisfied look.

“Boy, that plain water was just so good when you’re so thirsty!” The soldier leaned back on the pillow behind him, “So, you said that your name was Frey, young lady?”

Frey gave him a nod in response, “Yeah, are you feeling any better, Sir?”

“Other than the damage that knight caused, I feel as fine as always,” The knight replied, “And call me Kane. You might remember me as Captain Kane of Sechs Empire.”

“Captain… Kane…?” Frey paused for a moment to think before her lips curled into a frown, “Oh… that Captain Kane…”

Kane let out a nervous laugh, “Sorry if it brings up bad memories of that day. I thought that it’s okay to reveal myself now that we’re not invading Norad or any other countries.”

“No, it’s fine,” Frey gave him a sad smile, “I don’t really understand what happened that day anyway.”

“Your eyes are telling otherwise,” Kane looked at Frey with a serious look, but soon softened as he left out a sigh, “But I think you’re not going to say anything about it, correct?” Her silence was the answer he had expected to get, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry on your private matters.”

“Don’t worry about it. You didn’t know at first, so it’s understandable if you asked,” Frey replied with a shrug, “But it’s a good thing that my brother Lest wasn’t there to get caught up in it.”

“Get caught up in what?”

Frey turned around in surprise, seeing Lest as he approached from behind the white curtain, “O-Oh, it’s you, Lest.”

Lest looked at Frey for a moment before turning towards Kane, “If that’s okay, can I ask you some questions?”

“Be my guest,” Kane fixed his position on his bed, “You’re Lest, right? Call me Kane, okay?”

Lest nodded in response, “Kane, do you remember why you came here, to Selphia?”

“Well, now that’s the thing,” Kane replied, “I do remember being told to come here by the division head, but I don’t know why. All I know is that’s the order from the higher ups, so I don’t have the right to ask for a reason. That’s the rule.”

“So… you’re not allowed to ask why even if you’re told to walk straight to a monster’s nest?” Frey asked, shockingly getting a nod from Kane.

“As insane as it is, that’s true,” Kane replied with a shrug, “It’s still the same extreme rules even after Lord Ethelberd’s passing,” Kane let out a sigh as he dropped his arms to his bed, “Although things should have changed now, assuming certain things work out well.”

“Does that have to do with the person you wanted to help?” Frey turned to Lest in confusion as he had suddenly realized something.

Kane looked at Lest for a moment and smiled, “So that dragon knight told you about it,” Kane let out a nod, “Yes, you are correct. I’m talking about the current emperor, Lord Ethelberd’s son.”

The twins looked at the injured soldier in shock before they both turned to look at each other. Kane looked at the twins suspiciously, noticing the surprised looks on their faces.

“There’s no need to surprised,” Kane broke the silence in the room, “Lord Ethelberd has a wife, a legitimate son, and possibly a few illegitimate children. He has a few mistresses, with one of them being rumored to be an Earthmate.”

_‘She might be our mother…’_ Frey thought as she looked at Kane, “Do you know more about her? About that Earthmate?”

Kane gave her a shrug, “I don’t really know about her, but I heard one of the maids talking that she might be related to this place.”

“I… see…” Lest noticed as Frey turned to him before slightly pushing him behind her, “Maybe it’s best that we’ll leave you to get some more rest. Please get well soon.”

“Uh… okay…” Kane replied in confusion as he saw the twins leaving the clinic. The soldier leaned back on the bed as he realized the Earthmates’ reactions, _‘That was a lie, wasn’t it? Sechs soldiers must never reveal their names to their enemies no matter what, so you shouldn’t have known my name, Earthmate Frey.’_

Kane let out a sigh as he closed his eyes, imagining a figure in his head, _‘So the rumors back then were true… Lord Ethelberd had two Earthmate children who ran away with Lady Sara, and hidden away from public by Norad…’_ Kane opened his eyes to look at the clinic’s ceiling as he thought of the image of a woman with green hair, _‘They were your children, weren’t they, Lady Sara?’_

* * *

Lest looked at Frey in a serious look as they both stood in front of the clinic. The male Earthmate knew that his twin was hiding something, but she didn’t dare to say anything to him. The things they had found out from Kane were also making him feel doubtful whether the woman standing in front of him was truly his twin sister. Was he being lied to by a stranger who claimed herself to be a family of his? He had lost his memories, but seeing her didn’t bring any of his past memories back. He was told everything about his childhood with her, but were those stories really part of his childhood?

“I’m sorry,” A sudden apology coming from the female Earthmate surprised Lest, “There’s something I promised our mother, but I can’t say it right now,” Frey didn’t dare to look at least, “I know you have your doubts about me, so it’s fine if you don’t trust me.”

Frey knew the whole truth, but she had to keep it from anyone else. She hoped that her twin brother never changed even with his memories gone so that he would forgive her when he knew the truth. She became more and more nervous as Lest kept silent, fearing that her brother would leave her again and called her a liar. Maybe it really was what she deserved in the end, especially after she left him behind many years ago for her mission as an Earthmate.

“I trust you,” Lest’s response was what Frey wanted, but it had confused her as well.

“B-But why?” Frey asked nervously, “I mean, you might be talking to a complete stranger who claimed to be the twin sister of a prince. I could be deceiving you and taking advantage of you for my own sake! I could-”

“Just because you could,” Lest cut her off, “it doesn’t mean you will do it,” Lest gave her a smile, “You don’t look like someone who would do such a thing.”

Her lips slowly curled into a smile, “Lest…”

“I still my doubts, but I have the feeling that you’re doing this for a good cause,” Lest walked past his sister as he raised his hand, “I have some work to do, so I guess I’ll see you again this evening!”

Frey let out a nod before waving him goodbye, “Good luck with your work, dear brother!”

Frey stood still until she saw that Lest was out of her sight before letting out a relieved sigh. Her brother hadn’t changed at all, not even after losing his memories. He was still the same old Lest, the only blood relative she had ever since they had lost their mother right in front of them. Even with his memories gone, Frey knew that Lest still subconsciously remembered the things she had told him as children.

**_-Flashback-_ **

_A ten-year old Lest was standing in a kitchen along with a much older woman, who was looking quite upset. Lest would glance at the woman every few seconds, but the woman’s glare had scared him enough that he had started crying. The woman let out an annoyed sigh before turning towards an empty basket on the kitchen counter and left the room._

_His twin came into the kitchen as the woman left, knowing that Lest had stolen the vegetables from the basket. She patted his back, comforting him as he cried on her shoulder. When he had stopped crying, Frey took the opportunity to ask for his reason of taking the vegetables._

_“I… I didn’t eat them…” Lest confessed in a whisper._

_“If you didn’t eat them, then where did you take them?” Frey asked calmly, “I saw you take those vegetables from the basket when the landlady wasn’t looking.”_

_Lest didn’t give her an answer and turned to hide his face away. He was afraid that he would get another scolding if he told her where he took the vegetables. After all, he knew that he had taken the vegetables somewhere his sister might not like._

_“I won’t tell the landlady, I promise. Knowing you, I have the feeling that you’re doing it for something good,” Frey’s words had slightly given him some courage to turn and look at her._

_“I gave them to the wooly in your room… He looked hungry so I fed him some of our vegetables…” Lest lowered his head in guilt, “I’m sorry Frey, I know you don’t like monsters…”_

_“The wooly…?” Frey thought for a moment before she suddenly realized something, “Oh, you mean Mr. Wool! Sorry, he was so cute that I wanted to keep him in my room. Maybe we can surprise the landlady on her birthday with him!”_

_Lest looked at Frey in surprise, “Wouldn’t the landlady get mad? We aren’t allowed to keep any kind of monsters.”_

_“I was planning on releasing him, though,” Frey let out a disappointed sigh, “But forget what I said before. Just because we can surprise her, it doesn’t mean that we’ll actually do it.”_

**_-End of Flashback-_ **


	17. Alternate Universe

**-Frey’s POV-**

_Everything is set according to what I want. Living in the castle is great, but I still need people’s trust so I can renovate my own room to keep more items. One of the most important things that I can finally have and keep is my very own kitchen. I can come and eat at the restaurant before, but I need some extra money to buy more seeds. That’s the very reason I bought the kitchen from Porcoline, though I never considered the fact that I can’t even cook._

_I let out a long sigh as I look at the newly installed kitchen, finally realizing that I’m still struggling to make a single loaf of bread. Yes, I can’t even make a loaf of bread even after following the recipe that Porcoline has given me. I approach the kitchen table and take the frying pan with me, along with the ingredients that I can’t even recognize. I’m moving around the kitchen and start cooking something, as if I’ve already been cooking all the time._

_A plate of pancakes. It’s the dish that turns out from my inexperienced hands in the kitchen. I’m thinking of trying it out myself, but I feel that I’m taking the plate away from the kitchen. I enter a big and bright room next to mine in the castle, where a big green dragon is waiting. The dragon looks at me as if I’m being expected and I stand in front of the dragon._

_“Venti,” I call out to the dragon. The dragon’s name is Venti? That name sounds familiar._

_“Ah, you’re back,” I can see that her eyes are staring straight at me as she lowered her head slightly, “So… what were you doing in your room? I smell something good, but…” Venti seems to notice that I’ve caught her staring as she raised her head once more while looking elsewhere, “No, never mind about it. It’s not like I’m curious about human food or anything…”_

_I look up at her for a moment with a smile before setting down the plate in front of her, “Here, have some pancakes,” Venti turns to look at the plate of pancakes, but her expression remains the same, “Come on, I know that you like them.”_

_“Nonsense,” Venti replies shortly, “I’m a dragon god, so it doesn’t make sense that I like things like human food.”_

_“No, I know you do. You literally said that every night in your sleep,” The dragon freezes in her place as I laugh at her behavior, “Don’t worry, I can try and keep your little secret.”_

_“You can try?” Venti scoffs, “I’ll be having you as my next meal if anyone else finds out,” Venti lowers her head and sniffs the pancakes, “These pancakes smell quite good to be honest. Are they as good as they smell now?”_

_I watch as Venti eats the whole pancakes in a single bite, “So was it, Venti? Are they good?”_

_Venti swallows the pancakes and nods, “For human food, they suit my taste,” Venti looks at me with a smile, “I don’t mind if you can bring me more next time, but in a much bigger portion. That tiny portion isn’t enough to fill my belly.”_

_“Geez,” I let out a sigh and laugh, “Just say that you love it already!”_

_Our laughs echo in empty space as everything around me goes white before I reappear on top of a floating mossy rock, with Venti by side. She doesn’t look as good as when I see her with the pancakes, but her voice is still loud as she roars at a bearded man with blue cloak. The man laughs evilly before he throws a ball of light at me, but Venti’s wings block it before it hit me. The rock shakes for a few moments before Venti ducks down into the small space created by her wings and turns to me._

_“Frey, are you okay?” She asks in a worried tone._

_“I’m fine,” I reach for the dual blades on my sides before Venti opens up her cover, “Let’s finish this, Venti. Let’s finish the battle and go home, together.”_

_Venti pauses for a moment before nodding, “Yes…”_

_The man is about to send another ball of light at us, but the wind from Venti’s wings creates enough force for the man to miss his aim, allowing me to charge in for a few slashes at him. I kick myself a few meters back and Venti continues by hitting him with her tail. The man hits himself against the wall of rocks at the edge of the floating rock, but his evil smile never leaves his face._

_I swing one of my blades at him, but it bounces off him. An invisible barrier seems to have protected him from harm as my slashes do nothing to him. I turn to ask for Venti’s help, but she is no longer able to help me. She has her wings down on the mossy rock as she is being pulled towards the man. The battle is ending soon, but it’s most likely to end not in our favor._

_Venti loses her grip on the rock and straight towards the man before both of them are engulfed in a blinding bright light. Strong wind starts blowing and I find myself looking straight at the sky and the clouds. I’m moving through the sky as if I’m flying, but I’m not sure how. When I look down, I see that familiar green color again._

_I’m riding on Venti, flying through the sky. I don’t know what happen after Venti is pulled towards the man, but I feel relieved somehow. It feels like something is over in a good way and we’re finally going home. I feel like I know this scene, but I can’t point out from where I know it. I haven’t felt like this before, but somehow I feel like I know what has happened._

_Venti and I go through some thick clouds and everything around us is completely clean white. The wind has stopped blowing and I feel like I’m back in an empty space. It’s just then I hear a voice echoing in my head. A voice I’ve known so well in my life._

“So those were my unforgettable memories with her. She never knows about my past and neither do the other townspeople. She may be the dragon god many people praises her, but to me she’s my best friend. The very first friend I have since I arrived in Selphia.”

_I know that voice. I remember those events!_

**-Third Person POV-**

“Ugh…” The female Earthmate stirred in her bed before she slowly sat up on the bed. She rubbed her tired eyes and saw the mess on the bed she was using. Books and paper were all over her bed, with some of them falling on the floor. Ancient scrolls were left untied and strewn all over the floor and the bedside table.

Frey let out a tired sigh, “I can still have dreams, even in this condition…” Frey took one of the opened books on the bed and tried reading it, but her mind trailed off to the dream she just had, _‘That was what Lest experienced… with Venti…?’_

The events she saw in that dream was no other than Lest’s experiences with Ventuswill, whom he considered as a best friend. Frey had heard stories about their memorable moments from Lest himself and those stories almost matched the events in her dream. One notable difference from that dream was the fact that it was Frey who experienced it herself, not Lest.

“That was just a dream. I wasn’t meant to be there anyway,” Frey let out a sigh before flipping through the book pages, “Those weren’t meant to happen to me. I don’t want _that_ to happen to Lest.”

Forgetting the whole dream about her and Ventuswill wasn’t as easy as she thought it would. Frey could see the letters written on the book, but she wasn’t actually reading them. Her mind went back to the native dragon that was referred as her brother’s best friend. She had met her before, but she couldn’t truly see the dragon’s actual personality that Lest had told before.

Frey closed the book and put it back on the bed, completely ignoring the mess around her bed. She walked out of her room and walked through the empty hallways of the castle. As she was heading towards the main room, she could hear some voices coming from the next room. She walked quietly and peeked into the room where the voice came from, which was the place where Ventuswill was.

The dragon exhaled some air along with some audible voices, “Pancakes… want pancakes…”

Frey let out a laugh. Lest was telling the truth after all when he said that he heard Ventuswill asking for pancakes in her sleep. She stepped closer and into the room with the dragon’s voice begging for pancakes still heard. She stopped by the order symbol when she saw some dark aura slowly became visible to her.

Ventuswill’s pancake-begging voice turned into pained groans as she moved her head and wings, trying to shake off whatever force which was hurting her. Frey quickly ran to her side, though she had no idea what to do to make her feel better. She carefully put her hand on Ventuswill’s head and rubbed her head to calm her down, but the dark aura had slightly spread to her hand as well.

She quickly pulled her hand back, holding it tightly as the dark aura around her hand slowly disappeared. Her hand was a bit numb, but she could still move it around as if nothing happened. Ventuswill, on the other hand, was suffering more from the dark aura. Her groans grew louder and louder, which made Frey even more uncomfortable as she watched her.

“V-Venti!” Frey suddenly blurted out, stopping Ventuswill from her movements before she slowly opened her eyes.

“Lest… Is that you?” Ventuswill blinked a few times and slightly raised her head, noticing that the person in front of her wasn’t the one she thought it was, “Oh, it’s… Frey, correct?”

Frey paused for a moment as she saw the dark aura disappearing from around Ventuswill’s body, “Y-Yes that would be me…”

The dragon looked up at the still dark sky before turning back at the Earthmate, “It is still dark outside. Do you need something, Frey?”

“Oh, um… nothing, actually…” Frey looked at Ventuswill, who looked like she wasn’t as in pain as she was when she was still asleep, “May I ask you one question?”

“Yes, what is it?” Ventuswill replied in her usual casual tone, despite how formally Frey had asked her.

“Are you… feeling any pain?” Frey asked, getting a confused look from the native dragon.

“That’s… quite a strange question…” Ventuswill replied in confusion, “Yes, I’m fine.”

“Oh, okay…” Frey nodded in understanding before lowering her head in a bow, “Forgive me for the intrusion. Have a good night, Lady Ventuswill.”

Frey quickly ran away from the dragon room, heading straight towards her room in the castle. The wind dragon looked amused by the female Earthmate’s formality as she had adjusted herself to being casual towards most, if not all of the townspeople. She laid back down with a sigh, but she had her suspicions that Frey knew something about her condition after returning from the forest.

Ventuswill, one of the native dragons, waking up every morning and felt sore all over? That was not a normal thing for her.


	18. Neglected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long chapter is here! A bit of surprise (well, probably) at the end, so please enjoy!

A few days had passed since the incident with the corrupted runes. Frey was still staying in Selphia as she helped Arthur and Kiel to look into the past corruption cases. The capital hadn’t been much help to their case, with the exception of the royal archives Arthur managed to access. The female Earthmate was quite aware of the things they might be against and had already been trained for actual combat, but her brother hadn’t. It wasn’t part of her mission from the capital, but training Lest for actual combat had become a mission she assigned herself.

The two Earthmates were in the empty field behind the castle, which had purposely been left unplanted to let the soil rest. Each of them was holding dummy weapons, with Lest using a pair of leeks as dual blades and Frey using a toy hammer. Despite the fact that Lest had faster weapons, he was losing the friendly spar against his twin who was using the much slower hammer.

Lest was backed into the wall of his barn with both leeks blocking Frey’s hammer, but the pressure he put into pushing the hammer backfired when Frey skillfully pulled her hammer. She let the force from Lest’s pushing make the hammer swing clockwise as she lowered the weapon. Lest had his chest wide open for Frey to hit him with the hammer.

The soft surface of the hammer managed to hit Lest square in his chest, but the only harm it could do was pin him to the wall, “Score!” Frey exclaimed as she proudly looked at Lest, “It seems like you lost again, for the third time.”

Lest let out a disappointed sigh as Frey removed her hammer, “Fine, you win again…”

“Come on, now,” Frey gave him a pat on the back, “We can spar again after we’re done with our work for the day. I haven’t finished training you back then, so I’ll make it up to you with these sparring matches.”

“Well,” Lest tightened his grip on the leeks once more, “should we try again now? A short spar?”

“Aren’t you a confident one?” Frey got her hammer ready once more, “Big sister will teach you all about an actual sparring match!”

As they yelled out their fighting spirits, a certain pink-haired woman was watching from inside the castle through the door. Dolce let out a sigh before she went back into the room and straight to the kitchen, where her ghost best friend was waiting. For a short moment, Pico noticed a hint of either jealousy or disappointment before she turned to continue her cooking.

_“Are you upset, milady?”_ Pico asked bluntly, momentarily stopping her from adding some seasoning to the dish.

“No, I’m not,” The female Guardian continued preparing the dish, completely ignoring the worried Pico.

_“I know you well, Dolly,”_ Pico tried hovering above the stove, trying to get Dolce’s attention, _“You don’t look fine. You don’t smile as much as when you first got married.”_

Dolce let out an annoyed sigh. She wanted to deny Pico’s claim so that she would stop bothering her, but she had to admit that she was right. Her husband hadn’t been spending a lot of time with her as he spent more time with another woman who claimed to be his sister. She wanted to be a good wife and let him catch up with his forgotten past with his so-called sister, but the neglect she experienced might be a little too much.

“So?” Dolce responded flatly while putting her cooked dish on the plate.

Pico groaned as she hovered right in front of Dolce’s face, much to her face, _“Dolly, shouldn’t you be honest with yourself? Don’t you want Lest to give you the attention you deserve?”_

The female Guardian’s lips curled into a frown as she set the plate of newly-cooked risotto quietly on the dining table, “You know how much I think about our own family, don’t you?” Dolce turned to face Pico, “Sweetie knows and understands that. Back then, he helped me when I was in that kind of conflict with Jones and Nancy even when he never knew his own family.”

_“I get it now,”_ Pico responded, _“You want to do things just like he did… But don’t you think that the situations now and before are different?”_

Once again, Pico was right. Of course Lest would mind her spending more time with Jones and Nancy, knowing that both of them were like parents to her. Dolce wouldn’t mind if Frey really were Lest’s sister, but the fact that Lest couldn’t remember anything about his past and his family and the one-sided claim that Frey was Lest’s sister made her uneasy. Not to mention that Frey was acting too affectionate towards Lest to be his sister.

“Pico, let’s go to the clinic. It’s time for work,” Dolce suddenly said as she left the kitchen.

_“Huh?”_ Pico looked at the pink-haired Guardian in confusion as she followed her out of the room, _“Isn’t your shift supposed to be this afternoon?”_

“We have… a lot of patients,” Dolce gave out an excuse as she went through the main room, only to be stopped by Pico as she quickly hovered in front of her.

_“You’re not solving anything, Dolly!”_ Pico kept on blocking Dolce’s way as she tried making her way out, _“Please, Dolly…”_

The Guardian noticed the worried look on her friend’s face, “Pico?”

_“I can feel that you’re stressed out over this, but should you talk to him about it?”_ Pico let out a sigh, _“When you’re bottling things up like this, you tend to push yourself too hard. I mean, you look so tired and pale…”_

“Dolly, are you okay?” Dolce turned around in surprise, meeting eye-to-eye with Lest as he and Frey had come in from the field, “You don’t look too good these days. Shouldn’t you ask Jones or Nancy to reduce your shift?”

“No, I’m fine,” Dolce turned her back against Lest, “Your breakfast is on the dining table. I’m going to work now.”

“Um… see you later?” Lest watched in confusion as his wife left the castle in silence along with Pico, who turned to him as she was about to leave.

_“Lest… please don’t leave her like this…”_ Pico stared at him with a pleading look for a moment before she finally left.

Seeing his wife looking more and more tired as days went by made Lest more concerned about her. What Pico had said just then also made it clear that Dolce’s condition and behavior might have to do with what he did. He just couldn’t point out what exactly he did to be treated coldly by his own wife. He turned to Frey to ask for some advice, but Frey’s attention was at anything but the married couple’s issues. She was focused on what she might have seen, which was most likely the true reason for her condition.

* * *

The worried ghost girl watched as her friend looked through the shelves of medicine for a customer. Dolce grabbed one of the medicine bottles and set it on the counter as she closed her eyes while holding her head. She hadn’t been in the clinic for half a day, yet she felt exhausted as if she had been working nonstop for days.

“Are you okay, Miss?” The costumer suddenly asked, getting Dolce’s attention.

“Oh, um, yes,” Dolce looked the bottle she was holding for a short moment before handing it to the customer, “Here’s your medicine-”

_“Wait, Dolly!”_ Pico suddenly called out, stopping Dolce from giving the medicine, _“Check that bottle again! She was asking for an invinciroid, not a formuade!”_

“No, I know that this is… Oh…” Dolce checked the bottle once more and noticed that the bottle she was holding had red color instead of black, “I’m sorry, I’ve given you the wrong one.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” The customer took the bottle from Dolce’s hands, “I was also looking for a formuade as well. I’m still going to travel to other towns, so I might be able to find a recipe to make this formuade into a better invinciroid.”

“Ah, I see. Thank you for the purchase,” Dolce gave a small smile as the customer paid for the formuade and left.

Dolce let out a long and tired sigh as she slumped on one of the clinic chairs with Pico hovering closer to her, _“Should you let Jones or Nancy check up on you, Dolly? You look even worse than this morning.”_

The female Guardian let out an annoyed sigh as she pulled out a piece of talisman, “You’re tiring me out,” She threw the talisman, only too weakly that it had fallen to the floor instead.

“You should listen to her sometimes, Dolly,” The voice of the older nurse was heard before she approached the two, “Lest has been worried about you too. He has been asking me and Jones to let you rest at home for the past few days.”

Lest had been asking for Jones and Nancy to let her take a few days off? That was something new for her.

“Is that so?” Dolce asked, still looking unconvinced.

Nancy replied with a nod, “Yes, he even asked me to send you home to rest when I saw him this morning. It seems like he had noticed that you have been feeling unwell lately so he wanted you to stay home and let him take care of you.”

Dolce looked at Nancy while feeling a bit surprised, though only lasted for a short moment as frown came back, “If he only could do it, maybe I would let him.”

Nancy turned to Pico, who noticed her confusion as she let out a sad sigh, “ _Lest hardly is awake when we come home these days. He would either be asleep without even changing his clothes or half-awake while groaning in pain after some sparring sessions with Frey. Not only that, he also-_ ”

“Pico, stop,” Dolce shortly stated, prompting the ghost to stop talking before turning back to Nancy, “This is my family issue, so please don’t poke into our problems.”

Nancy slowly nodded and gave her a sad smile, “Yes, that’s true… Even so, you should actually get some rest, Dolly. You can take a rest here for a moment if you want and I’ll make you some of your favorite flan.”

“No, that’s fine,” The female Guardian rose to her feet, “I’m going home to rest.”

“Very well. Don’t push yourself too hard, okay?” Nancy noticed the weak nod coming from her foster daughter as she and Pico left the clinic.

Dolce was fine to be walking on her own back to the castle, although she only had at least half of the energy she usually had. Was the problem with her husband really making her so upset that she was losing her strength? She knew that wasn’t the main cause, though simply thinking about her being neglected made things worse.

Pico could feel that her friend was both weakening and suffering as both of them were connected, but she was left speechless when it was about family matters. She couldn’t even remember how she became a ghost in the first place, let alone remembering her own blood family. All she knew was that Dolce was like her sister and her parents were like Pico’s own parents, and with Dolce’s marriage to Lest, she had also earned herself a brother-in-law.

Just when things were going so well between three of them, another woman came into their life. The woman who claimed herself to be Lest’s twin sister, yet her actions reflected her more as a lover than a sister. It was also just then that Lest started to spend more time with Frey rather than the family he always knew, much to Dolce’s disappointment.

With a quiet sigh, Dolce opened the door to the castle to give herself some time to rest. The Guardian noticed how the door opened so easily even in her weakened condition, until she saw a familiar a green head by the castle entrance.

“Huh? Isn’t that Amber?” Pico noticed the sleeping figure leaning against the door as Dolce knelt down to wake her up.

“Wake up, Amber. This isn’t the place for you to sleep,” Dolce shook her fellow Guardian awake before Amber slowly stirred and opened her eyes.

“Um… Oh! It’s you, Dolly!” Amber looked at her surroundings, “This isn’t my room…”

“Of course it isn’t,” Dolce helped the confused Amber back to her feet, “You’re going to catch a cold if you keep on sleeping here.”

“I know…” Amber responded with guilt, “I remember falling asleep on my bed last night and you woke me up here just now…”

“Huh?” Dolce turned to Pico, who was as surprised as she was before turning back to Amber, “I thought that I saw you walking around here this morning.”

“That’s weird,” Amber responded in confusion, “Ellie said the same thing yesterday after I woke up in the forest.”

_“That’s… definitely not usual…”_ Pico commented.

“Oh well, I should be going home now,” The butterfly girl’s tired eyes soon recovered as she started walking away, but suddenly stopped and turned back to Dolce, “But… there’s something that I’ve been wondering, though…”

“What is it?” Dolce questioned.

“Have you got a dream that someone is asking you to leave the town?” Amber asked, surprising both Dolce and Pico.

“I… No, I don’t,” Dolce shook her head.

“Okay… see you later then!” Amber waved her fellow Guardian a goodbye as she headed back to the flower shop.

Dolce stood still in front of the half-open door, leaving Pico to question her as she hovered in front of her, _“Dolly…?”_

“It’s just a coincidence. A coincidence for one stupid dream,” Dolce simply shrugged off Pico’s worry and headed straight towards the bedroom. She would have said something about the coincidence of having similar dreams, though she was too tired to make a simple argument. A short nap would be the only thing she wanted.

* * *

The sky had turned dark as nighttime had come, but Selphia was still lively with the townspeople still doing their late activities. While the village was still lively at that hour, it wasn’t as lively as it would be in daytime. Most of the stores had closed for the day, leaving only the bath at the inn and the restaurant open.

Even with the liveliness in town, one of the townspeople was fast asleep in the castle. Dolce had changed into her night gown and was still sleeping in bed with Pico keeping her company, though she was sleepy from the lack of activity besides watching over her. She hovered over to her side of the bed to take a nap as well, but the sound of the door opening stopped her from taking her nap.

Lest entered the room while carrying some vegetables in his hands, “I’m home… huh?”

_“Dolly’s taking her beauty nap now, so don’t you dare bother her,”_ Pico noticed the vegetables in his hands, _“What are those?”_

Lest approached the bed and put his rucksack on the bedside table, “I’m planning to cook dinner tonight, so Dolly can take a rest from doing the housework for the rest of the night.”

_“That’s a nice thing to do for Dolly, but,”_ Pico pointed at the vegetables, _“I thought that you know that Dolly hates vegetables!”_

“Don’t worry, I know,” Lest showed the vegetables, “I’m making curry rice tonight, but we’re out of carrots and potatoes so I bought them on the way home.”

_“Oh, I see…”_ Pico turned to see that Dolce slept through the whole conversation before turning back to Lest with a smile, _“I’ll wake her up later when it’s done, so tell me when it’s-”_

“I’ll bring it here.”

_“Huh?”_

Lest let out a nervous laugh, “I haven’t been spending much time with her lately, so I hope this makes up for all the lost time. I mean, I don’t think I want to spend another hour when Nancy gave me quite an earful…”

It was Pico’s turn to laugh, _“Since Nancy already did the job for me, I guess I’ll forgive you if you cook her favorite dishes,”_ Pico winked at Lest, _“I’m counting on you, Lest!”_

Lest let out a nod, “Yeah, I will do my best.”

A few minutes had passed since Lest left the room to cook dinner and Dolce had woken up from her long nap. Pico kept quiet as her friend looked around drowsily before Dolce saw the dark sky through the window and kicked the blanket off her in panic. She was supposed to be taking a short nap and woke up before it was dark to prepare dinner as usual, but it seemed like she had overslept.

Dolce saw Pico casually hovering above the bedside table, which made her notice that her husband had already returned home, “Pico, it’s already this late! Why didn’t you wake me up?”

Just as Pico was about to answer, the bedroom door opened to reveal Lest carrying a tray of food on his hand. Pico prompted Dolce to turn around to see Lest, who was also surprised to see that she was awake, “O-Oh, did I wake you?”

“No, not really…” Dolce’s eyes trailed off to the food on the tray, “Did you… cook dinner?”

“Yeah, I’m planning to do it anyway,” Lest responded as he approached the bed and put his rucksack away to place the tray, “Let’s have dinner here, just for tonight.”

“If that’s what you want, then I’ll go with it,” Dolce replied flatly.

_“Oh, Dolly is being so cold today,”_ Pico’s suddenly mockery earned her a piece of talisman on her face, but not strong enough to knock her out, _“Come on, Dolly! Lest is trying to be attentive to you!”_

“It’s okay, Pico. I understand if she’s mad at me,” The bickering came into a stop when Lest took one of the plates of curry rice and took a spoonful of curry, “Would you like me to feed you?”

“Huh?!” Dolce looked back and forth between Lest and the spoonful of curry with a blush on her face.

“Or… do you not want to…?”

“One bite,” Dolce whispered before turning to Lest, “Feed me one bite.”

“Okay, here you go,” Lest gave her the first spoonful of food before giving her the whole plate to eat, but she pushed it back to his hands, “You didn’t like it?”

“No, just…”  Dolce couldn’t hide her blush as she looked at her husband from the corner of her eyes, “Feed me more, will you?”

“Sure,” Lest obeyed as he gave her another spoonful of food, and another, until the whole plate was clean.

“Well, that was good,” Dolce noticed that they were the only ones in the room, “Wait, where’s Pico?”

“Didn’t you hear her when she said that she was going to fly around a bit?” Dolce’s confusion turned into embarrassment, knowing that she was so lost in her own world with the man she loved that she didn’t notice her best friend leaving.

“O-Oh…” Dolce nervously avoided looking at Lest, who had simply laughed at her unexpected ignorance, until she noticed that there was another portion left on the tray, “Sweetie, you haven’t eaten your dinner yet.”

“Oh, this?” Lest took the other plate from the tray, “I was planning on eating it with you here, but yeah, I don’t mind feeding you at all.”

“Here, let me,” Dolce took the plate from Lest and took a spoonful for Lest, “I’ll feed you in return.”

“T-Thanks Dolly,” Lest nervously took his first spoon before they started talking about other things that happened that day as their relationship started healing within a single day.

* * *

“That felt so good!” Lest had stepped back into the bedroom in his pajamas after he had his bath before noticing the silence between Dolce and Pico, who had just returned from her random strolling, “Is something the matter?”

Pico turned to look at Lest and then turned to Dolce, who was looking down at the blanket, _“Well, what are you waiting for? Lest is already standing there!”_

Dolce turned to Pico with a glare, “It almost sounds like you’re the one who wants it the most.”

Pico let out a giggle as she looked at her with a wink, _“But you do want it too, don’t you Dolly?”_

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lest let out a laugh as he walked over to the bed and sat next to his wife.

Dolce took another look at Pico before she flew away through the window, knowing that she wanted to say it without the ghost ruining it. The female Guardian took a deep breath before she took Lest’s hand in hers and leaned against him, much to his surprise.

Dolce let out a whisper, “Sweetie, have you… have you thought about… having kids?”

Her voice became smaller and smaller, making it barely audible to Lest, “Sorry, I can’t hear the last two words…”

“Kids,” Dolce’s voice became a bit louder, “I… I want to start a family, if that’s okay with you…”

“So that’s what you want, Dolly?” Lest let out a chuckle as he put his arm around her hips, “A cute miniature Dolly running around here seems like a good sight to see.”

Dolce let out a chuckle as well while she held Lest’s hand firmly, “Or a small version of you who’s more responsible and less dense would be nice.”

“Sure, anything will be good as long as they’re our children,” Lest put his head on hers as they spent their first night after making up.

Dolce had never expected that Lest had been attentive without her knowing, but she felt happier when she knew. What she had felt might have been jealousy as she had seen Lest with Frey, who was another woman, though she was his own sister. She didn’t become a Guardian and leave her parents to meet someone she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, but she never regretted her decision. If she hadn’t become a Guardian, she would never have met and married Lest.

Dolce was happy, but she wasn’t aware of another soul which had been eating her inside the whole time. The one soul who had been betrayed many times and wished that others would feel the same pain it felt.

_“Damn, this isn’t going my way anymore!”_


	19. The Monster and the Voices

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update, but a short one today! It might contain a tiny bit of spoiler of Amber's proposal event with a bit of twist added. Please enjoy!

Amber never really thought something was completely out of place. She lived a normal life even after waking up from being turned into a monster and remembering her dragon friend. Everything was normal, until she had strange dreams whenever she fell asleep. When she woke up, she found herself in a different place than the one she remembered sleeping in. Had she been sleepwalking?

Sleepwalking might be normal for someone like Clorica, but not for her. Things went even more bizarre when she woke up and found herself deep inside the Yokmir Forest in the middle of the night instead of her own bedroom. It was the same place she slept for hundreds of years to help her best friend and the same place she woke up after that long slumber. If she could sleep for hundreds of years and wake up in the same place then, why couldn’t she now?

Amber looked around the dark forest clearing with the same voice in her dreams echoing in her head. She could feel that the voice became clearer when she was around the forest, calling out her name over and over again. It was a familiar voice, the one she had heard before she had become a Guardian. It was the same voice who cried out in pain when she woke up from her slumber.

It was the voice of the monster. The monster which was fused with her when she became a Guardian seemed to be a lonely monster in Amber’s eyes, pleading for Amber to become its friend. The butterfly girl had made friends with the monster after its defeat against Lest, preventing the monster itself from returning to the Forest of Beginnings. The monster decided to stay with Amber, sharing the same body as she lived herself a normal life.

The monster lived peacefully within Amber’s mind, until her recent visits to the forest had tainted the monster’s thoughts. It wanted to take Amber’s body as its own, living its life an innocent human girl people liked. It wanted to live a new life in which its existence was acknowledged by many people. Sharing a body with another soul wasn’t enough to satisfy the monster, as both souls had to compete for their own existence within the body. It had to get rid of Amber from her own body to be able to fully control her body, but it needed more power to do so.

“Hello?” The monster was surprised when Amber called out in the seemingly empty forest, “Is anyone here?”

The monster realized that Amber was calling out to the voices it made when she was sleeping, _“No one’s here, Amber. It’s just you and me.”_

“Hm?” Amber looked around in confusion, “Where are you?”

_“I’m here, Amber. I’m the one who shared the same body as you,”_ The monster replied in her head.

“Oh, it’s you,” Amber let out a smile, “Where have you been, friend? I can only hear you in my dreams lately.”

So, she noticed. The monster realized that Amber could remember its voice even from her dreams as they shared the same body. Amber might have found out easily about its intentions of taking of her body, but the girl was too innocent to believe it. It needed the right moment to take over her entire existence, so it had to go along with living an innocent life with this innocent human.

_“I haven’t got enough strength lately”_ , the monster lied, _“This forest gives me the energy to stay conscious for now.”_

“I see… should I visit the forest more often for you to recover?” Amber asked, completely unaware of the corrupted runes within the forest.

_“Yes, but we can come back here tomorrow,”_ the monster slightly took control of Amber’s head, making her look up at the pitch black sky, _“The sky may look as dark as the night sky, but it’s already morning now.”_

“Huh?!” Amber looked around the dark forest as the monster let Amber control her body back, “But it’s really dark around here…”

_“It’s the dark fog surrounding the forest,”_ the monster responded, _“This is the energy of the forest that I use to heal myself. It’s going to be at its strongest at night, two days from now on.”_

“Then you should be healthy enough if we come back here at that time, right?” Amber concluded, assuming the monster’s silence as an approving nod, “Let’s go home for now, shall we? We can hang out here tonight when the sun is down if that’s what you like.”

_“True,”_ the monster replied in a happy tone, _“I’m going to recover faster that way.”_

The female Guardian left Yokmir Forest, which had completely been surrounded by some dark fog, and headed back towards the town. The morning sun was the first thing to greet the butterfly girl as she walked out of the foggy area, but she could feel that her body wasn’t well rested.

Amber let out a soft yawn as she passed through the gate, getting into the lively plaza as the townspeople had begun their morning activities. She went back to the flower shop in her tired condition, greeted by the surprised female elf.

“Amber, where have you been since this morning?!” Illuminata asked worriedly, “Did something happen… wait, let me solve this mystery of your disappearance!”

“It’s fine, Ellie,” Amber gave her usual comforting smile, “I went for a walk to the forest really early today.”

“Oh, is there a mystery in the forest?” The self-proclaimed detective reached for her monocle in excitement, “Leave the mystery-solving to me, the Great Detective!”

“Well, there is one thing…” Amber’s reply made Illuminata even more excited, “The forest is so dark even when it’s already morning now. I think there’s some dark fog around it…”

“Dark fog?” The excitement suddenly disappeared from the detective’s face, “I think Arthur or Frey might have said something about some dark fog being a bad thing…”

“It can’t be that bad if it can heal someone, right?” Amber’s question brought some confusion to Illuminata.

“The dark fog that can heal someone… Well, that’s something new!” The excitement came back to Illuminata’s face, “This is a new lead to this case! Good job, my assistant!”

“Thanks, Ellie,” Amber let out another yawn before rubbing her tired eyes, “Um… can I take a nap upstairs? I feel a bit sleepy today…”

Illuminata let out a chuckle as she nodded, “Of course! You’ve earned yourself a well-deserved rest for the day!”

“I see,” Amber let out yet another yawn as she approached the stairs, “See you later, Ellie…”

Amber took the stairs to the second floor and headed into her room, immediately throwing herself into her bed. The bed felt good as she felt tired all over for no reason, letting her tired body rest. Her mind went blank once more as she fell into a deep sleep, only with the monster’s voices echoing in her head over and over again.

_“Leave the town and let me recover, Amber. It’s the only way for you to save me, your dear friend.”_


	20. Broken Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter with a bit of spoiler from Leon's proposal event. Hopefully this is the last part of the spoilers, so please enjoy!

The tallest and oldest tower in Selphia was surrounded by dark fog, but the first Guardian didn’t care as he stood at the foot of the tower. Leon saw how the tower had aged from the cracks and moss, compared to the condition when he saw it before becoming a Guardian. It wasn’t just the tower, but the scenery he remembered from his time had completely changed. Everything except one thing left on the tower.

Leon didn’t have his usual playful look as he looked at the door on the foot of the tower. It had many names written on the stone door in various languages, but there were only two names which had been written in the same language. Those were the names written at the top left corner of the stone door.

“Maria,” Leon read one of the names before he let out a sad smile, “You were upset with me, weren’t you? I still decided to become a Guardian even after I made that promise.”

Leon held out a piece of worn paper with writings written in an old language, which was the same language as the two names on top were written in. He had read the paper so many times that he had memorized every word written on it, but he had to come back and read it over and over again. The more he read it, the more depressed and guilty he felt. He had to read a sort of diary of an old friend he had left behind.

Leon hadn’t been an easily depressed person, but he knew that had been his most depressing moment. He had never wanted to break any promises, but he eventually did. His old precious friend, Maria, had never broken her promise to him, yet he did. He left her behind just like that when he had promised that he would marry her someday.

_“So you want to go back in time?”_ A voice asked from Leon’s head.

The male Guardian stood still, giving the voice in his head a complete silence.

_“Get real, human. She will never forgive you,”_ The voice continued, sensing more despair pilling up within the Guardian.

“Huh,” Leon let out a chuckle, “Whoever you might be, you won’t be able to make me feel desperate. I never regretted my decision to save my friend.”

_“By sacrificing the other? You do regret it and I can feel it. It’s very clear to me, stupid human,”_ The voice pointed out its opinion, _“You’re in deep despair, but I can help you if you want.”_

Leon stood in silence, knowing how true the unknown voice was. At first he never regretted the decision to become a Guardian and save Ventuswill, but his childhood friend had suddenly come into his mind in the past few days. He would claim that he would never break a promise, but he already had broken one thousands of years back. This friend of his might have been waiting for him to come back and passed on while feeling hurt and betrayed. All of her suffering as she passed on must have been his fault and his only.

“Tell me,” Leon spoke up in a serious tone, “Who are you? Why can I only hear you in my head?”

_“A curious one, aren’t you?”_ The voice replied, _“You were me since that day until that Earthmate came into the picture. Now, I’m simply a weak being trying to recover my strength.”_

“And you’re the voice that I hear every night in my dreams,” Leon added, “Are you the one who kept reminding me of Maria?”

_“I have no interest in meddling with your human affairs,”_ The voice scoffed, _“It’s you mind alone, human. At my current strength, I can’t-”_

“Can you…” Leon cut in, “Can you let me talk to her? Even if I’m not forgiven, at least I can apologize to her properly.”

_“Acting all tough but you’re also melting in the inside now, aren’t you?”_ The voice let out a mocking tone, getting an unusual angry growl from Leon.

“Very well,” Leon calmed himself down before he carefully folded the piece of paper he was holding and started walking away from the tower, “I’ve wasted too much time here. I need to help Arthur with his latest translation.”

_“I can help,”_ Leon stopped in his tracks, _“if that’s what you want.”_

“I do believe that I heard that you’re not interested in human affairs,” Leon talked back with his usual sly smile.

_“This is an exception,”_ The voice responded, _“You’re not entirely human. You fused with me before and you still have a part of me within you. Theoretically, you’re a half monster.”_

“Well, that was quite an entertaining excuse,” Leon’s laid back response got him an annoyed growl.

_“Fine, fine! The point is, do you want to go back to the past?”_ The voice asked in annoyance, _“I can guarantee that you can see her in person if you can just let me heal myself here a little longer.”_

This might be his last chance to finally meet Maria once more. It didn’t matter to him whether he would be forgiven anymore. He just wanted to apologize for leaving her to live in despair, while he woke up in a new world and lived happily. It was his decision, but one that wasn’t fair for Maria’s life. He had to go back but at the same time, he was already attached to the new world he woke up in.

_“So, how about it?”_ The voice asked once more, slightly surprising the Guardian, _“You don’t have to do much, just leave town tomorrow night and come here. I can heal much faster then.”_

“Very well,” Leon let out a sigh, “It doesn’t sound like a boring idea.”

_“Good. We can come back here tomorrow-”_

“I’ll think about it,” Leon’s response cut off the voice, “I never said that I would completely agree to this, didn’t I?”

_“W-Well maybe…”_ The voice let out an angry growl, _“Fine, do what you like! The deadline for your dumb human thinking is tomorrow, you hear?”_

Leon let out a small chuckle, _“Don’t worry, it’s a promise,”_ The Guardian looked back at the names on top of the door once more, _‘Wait for me, Maria. I’ll be seeing you soon.’_


	21. Anger Issues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update! This time, it's Dylas and his unusual anger issues!

It was a regular morning for Dylas, except that it was almost noon rather than morning. The blue-haired Guardian kicked himself out of bed, only to find that his body was sore all over. He sat back down on his bed and held his knees, but found that both of his hands were bandaged. He might have took burning hot plates from Porcoline before the chubby chef could devour the dish on many occasions, but not as bad as requiring his hands to be bandaged.

Dylas began to unwrap the bandages, finding his scars on both of his palms, “W-What… happened…?”

_“Hey there, bud. Sleepin’ like a log did ya?”_

“Huh?” Dylas looked around for the source of the voice, but he was alone in his room, “Who are you? Show yourself!”

_“No can do, bud,”_ The voice replied within Dylas’ head, _“Ya can’t see me when yer awake. That’s just how it works, bud.”_

“Uh…” Dylas looked down at his scarred hands, “At least tell me why I’m injured like this.”

_“Whoa, that was pretty wild, bud!”_ The voice rang in Dylas’ head suddenly, surprising the Guardian, _“Yer like a horse out of cage, bud! Now that was a sight to see!”_

“H-Hey, I’m not a horse!” Dylas stood up angrily from his bed and began frantically searching his room, “Come on, enough jokes! Just come out already, damn it!”

_“Chill down, bud,”_ The voice’s calming effort was completely ignored as Dylas opened up the window and began looking around.

“Ugh…” Dylas pulled his head from poking out the window while holding it out in pain, “My head hurts…”

_“Yer gonna get used to it, bud,”_ The voice responded as Dylas leaned on the wall, _“Just go get ready, horsie buddy. Yer so-called prized costumers ain’t gonna take empty dishes from the fat guy!”_

“Whatever,” Dylas sighed in annoyance before he fixed his bandages and got dressed.

As soon as Dylas poked his head into the restaurant, he could see so many eyes staring straight at him. Margaret, who was playing the piano, stopped as well when she noticed the customers’ behavior. The Guardian looked around the room, which had started to get crowded as it was almost lunch time, and saw the terrified looks coming from the customers.

The customers who noticed him looking quickly turned their attention away and towards something else. Margaret left her seat from the piano and approached him, but stopped when she saw the loose bandages wrapping Dylas’ hands, “D-Dylas, let me fix those for you.”

“Huh?” Dylas looked at the bandages before the elven girl grabbed it, “Wait, no, it’s fine!”

“No, it isn’t,” Margaret kept on fixing the bandages and let it go once it was tight enough to secure his wound, “There, all finished.”

“Um…” Dylas looked back at the fixed bandages before letting out one of his rare smiles, “Thanks, Margaret.”

“No problem,” Margaret’s smile turned into worry, “Shouldn’t you be resting today? Nancy said that you might reopen your wounds if you hold hot dishes all day.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Dylas walked past Margaret and headed for the counter, “Porcoline, what’s the next order?”

“Oh, Dylas!” Porcoline noticed the Guardian’s presence by the counter as he carried a plate on each hand, “Here’s the grilled lobster and stew for table two.”

Dylas saw that as soon as Porcoline was about to hand him the dishes, he pulled them back and was about to put them in his mouth. Dylas quickly pulled the dishes off Porcoline’s hand before the dish disappeared from their sight, “Not so fast.”

“Moi needed to make sure that the dishes are seasoned correctly…” Porcoline looked at Dylas with a pleading look, but his tricks never worked against the Guardian.

Dylas let out an angry sigh, “I’m taking these to the costumers.”

Dylas went to the table and gave the customers their orders, despite the terror they might have felt when he came into their table. Dylas looked for a moment as they were eating and saw a little girl holding a silver wolf doll while looking at him with teary eyes. He forced out a smile, which made the girl cry instead.

“Mommy, I’m scared!” The girl cried out before the mother hugged her to comfort her.

_‘It’s not my fault!’_ Dylas thought angrily as he looked at the girl’s mother, whose look told him not to scare her any longer. Dylas raised a fist, “I’m not-”

“Dylas!” Margaret’s call had stopped him from hitting the table with his fist, “If you’re going to destroy another table today, I’ll have Porco cut down your paycheck again.”

Dylas let out an angry growl before throwing his fist back down, “Fine, I’m sorry!”

Margaret let out a relieved sigh before the chubby chef came out from the kitchen, “Meggy, do you have a moment?”

“Oh, Porco!” Margaret let out a smile as she nodded, “Sure, what is it?”

Porcoline turned his attention to Dylas, who had just stumbled against chair and kicked it angrily in return, “Don’t you think Dylas is acting strange lately?”

Margaret turned her attention to Dylas as well, who was taking a customer’s order, “He’s a little bit… explodey, isn’t he?”

“Yes, he even started a fight here last night,” Porcoline agreed with a nod.

Margaret recalled the events of the previous night in the restaurant and laughed sheepishly, “That was quite an unusual fight… on all fours…”

“Man, this place is as packed as always!” The voice of a familiar dwarf turned the attention of the two towards the door before Margaret approached him as the new customer.

“Welcome! You can take the empty seat near the counter if that’s fine with you,” Margaret pointed her hand towards the empty seat in front of the counter.

“Sure, I’ll take that spot,” Doug gave her a thumbs up before approached the empty seat.

Just as he pulled the chair to sit, Dylas passed by while carrying some empty plates and the chair bumped into his leg. Dylas turned to see his red-headed rival in front of him and glared at him, “Get out of the way, shrimp.”

“Hey, what’s your problem?” Doug talked back in annoyance as he pushed the chair out of the way, “It was just an accident!”

“You’re in the way, bastard!” Dylas growled angrily, “Move it!”

“This is my seat! Is this how you’re going to treat your customers, horse-face?” Doug stood in his place, making Dylas angrier.

“That’s it!” Dylas threw away the plates with the sound of them breaking become the attention of the whole restaurant.

Dylas pushed Doug hard against the table, before pushing the table away so that Doug fell and landed on the floor on his back. Their hands were locked in each other as they pushed one another, completely ignoring the fact that the whole restaurant was watching. Porcoline, who was watching the whole scene, quickly ran into the kitchen and out while holding two back scratchers in his hands.

Dylas had pinned Doug on the ground and hit him a few times, letting out his rage take control of him. Porcoline had snuck in behind them and raised one of his back scratchers as he looked at the person he was targeting with a frown, “Forgive moi, Dylas…”

A single, hard smack was enough and Dylas’ vision went black.

_“Well, well, quite a show that ya put out there, bud!”_

Dylas still heard the voice, but his vision only changed from pure black into pure white. There wasn’t a single person within the sight he had.

_“Feel good now, aren’t ya? Things can get really interesting if ya can get more power… Nah, I think I’ll give it to ya for free!”_

“No…” Dylas replied weakly, “I… I just hurt Doug… didn’t I?”

_“Heh, such a softie! Ya can feel that rage building inside, can’t ya?”_

“Well, I think…” Dylas let out a sad sigh, “But I can’t get angry like that… I remember… I’ve hit Porcoline a few times last night and the whole restaurant turned into a brawling bar after a customer suddenly cancelled a finished order…”

“If ya wanna be like that, then how about this. Ya let the rage out outside of those oh-so-precious people of yers by rampaging in the ruins? Tomorrow night, just ya and me, bud! Ya don’t wanna miss it, ‘cause it’s gonna be super effective!”

“So I can feel better… if I just go to the ruins tomorrow night?” Dylas asked in uncertainty.

_“Ya got it, bud! Sleep tight now, bud! Tomorrow’s gonna be a blast!”_


	22. Decision under the Stormy Night

The rumbling thunder could be heard throughout the whole Selphia as a rainstorm had invaded the peaceful town. The townspeople had mostly stayed indoors and away from the storm, only getting out for important businesses. The loud rumbling sounds could even be heard clearly inside the buildings, signaling for lighting to strike and slightly brightening the sky.

A certain ghost girl was present in a place one wouldn’t expect, as she had temporarily left her friend’s side. Pico had visited Lest’s sister, who was also staying in the castle, as she had some stories that Dolce wouldn’t want anyone to know. She was telling Frey something the ghost had seen herself, but couldn’t understand at all. Knowing how Frey had been poking her head into various books similar to Kiel since coming to Selphia, Pico had hoped that she could hear some satisfying answers from her.

“A dream?” Frey asked in confirmation as she held an open book in her hands.

_“It feels like one, so I think it is…”_ Pico replied in a worried look, _“Dolly and I never actually share the same dreams, but for the past few nights…”_

“I see…” Frey gave her a nod and turned back to the book, “It’s unusual, just like you said, but I don’t think it has anything to do with what I’m looking for.”

_“Okay… but can you do anything to help?”_ Frey looked back to the still-worried Pico, _“I’m worried with what the voice said… Telling milady to leave Lest and head out to the mansion…”_

“Do you remember anything else?” Frey asked, looking a little more interested in the topic.

_“Sorry, but I think that’s all I remember…”_ Pico noticed Frey looking slightly disappointed and suddenly remembered something, _“Oh, wait! The voice sounded like a woman’s! Would that be helpful?”_

“Um…” Pico looked at Frey with expectant eyes, which made her unable to say anything too bad to her, “Maybe that can make a good lead…”

_“Of course!”_ Pico exclaimed proudly, _“When milady is at stake, I can do anything!”_

“Okay, okay,” Frey laughed at Pico’s excitable behavior, “Should you return to their side now? I’ll look into this strange dream that you told me just now.”

_“Okay, we’ll be counting you!”_ With a single spin, Pico disappeared from the room.

Frey let out a sigh as she went over to her bed and switched the book she was holding with one of the books scattered around her bed, “I don’t think it has something to do with this case, but that fever might be something else,” Frey flipped through the pages of the book, “I think I saw something similar here…”

* * *

Lest was watching the stormy sky from the window of his bedroom before he let out a sigh, “The rain has just heavier and heavier since this morning. It’s pretty much a big storm out there.”

The Earthmate closed the window curtains before walking back towards the bed, where his wife laid down weakly. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Dolce worriedly as he pulled the bed covers over her. Lest took a small towel from a bowl of water, putting it over Dolce’s burning forehead.

_“Hi, I’m back!”_ Pico appeared on her side of the bed and looked at her friend, _“Is Dolly…”_

“She’s still the same,” Lest replied, his eyes never leaving Dolce, “It’s hard to believe how her fatigue could turn into a really bad fever within a single day.”

_“Yeah…”_ Pico looked at Dolce with a frown before turning to Lest, _“Um… can I ask you something?”_

“Yes?” Lest gave her a short reply as he was soaking the towel before putting it back on Dolce’s forehead.

_“What do you think of your sister?”_ Pico’s question finally got Lest’s attention.

“Huh?”

_“I know that milady felt kind of… uncomfortable with her but that’s not what I meant,”_ Pico turned to look at the ceiling, _“Do you feel something different about her? About her presence?”_

Lest took a moment to think before he slowly shook his head, “No, I don’t think so…”

_“I see… You can’t really feel it but… I think I feel something familiar with her,”_ Lest looked at her in confusion, _“I’m not sure if I should say it but she somehow has a familiar scent to mine…”_

“Would that mean that you’re related to her?” Lest looked at her while being uncertain with his own theory, but knew that Pico might have noticed something.

_“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can say…”_ Pico apologized with a frown.

“Okay, it’s fine,” Lest pulled his legs up and went beneath the covers, “Come on, let’s just get some sleep.”

Pico watched as Lest turned off the lights and laid down on the bed, _“Okay…”_

* * *

The sound of rumbling thunder could still be heard as Frey was once again surrounded by various books. She let out a tired sigh as she flipped through another book, which made her sat up suddenly. She read through the pages quickly as the book was written in a language she was familiar with, completely ignoring how her realization had caused some other books to be thrown around and off the bed.

“This… is written in Earthscript!” Frey frantically flipped through the pages, before she suddenly clutched her chest in pain, “Ugh…” Frey slowly lifted her head to look at the window.

The storm hadn’t stopped with lighting still striking here and there, but what Frey saw wasn’t the lighting. Dark fog was forming around the town, getting thicker and thicker as seconds passed with the sleeping townspeople completely unaware of the situation. The female Earthmate took the book with her as she approached the window to look at the town’s condition, but the dark fog had limited her vision.

Frey slowly reopened the book she was holding, “It’s… just like what the book said… The climax is at the season of the dry leaves…”

* * *

Dolce found herself wandering around in an empty white space without having anyone with her. She felt that she was lost somewhere, but she couldn’t even remember how she got there in the first place. Calling out for everyone she knew didn’t do anything at all as she couldn’t hear anyone responding to her calls. She knew that she had been in that place before, but she couldn’t remember how she could get out the last time.

“This place again,” Dolce shortly commented as she looked around the empty space.

“Hmph, I never knew that you’re such a stubborn young lady!”

The voice alerted the Guardian, who looked around for the source of the voice, “Who’s there?”

“A forgetful one as well, I see,” The voice replied casually, testing the female Guardian’s patience as she let out a quiet growl, “We’ve shared this space for hundreds of years, yet remembering that damn dragon caused you to forget what happened all those years here?”

“I… I truly don’t remember…” Dolce hesitantly replied, “I was asleep in that mansion to help Venti and I only remember sleeping there and waking up in that place…”

The sound of an angry growl was heard, “Fine, you’ll remember once I show who I really am.”

A puppet-like monster appeared in front of the Guardian, who quickly recognized it, “It’s you!”

“You can just refer me as Marionetta,” The monster’s yellow eyes turned to glare at her, “You remembered my ugly self, yet you didn’t bother remembering this beautiful voice?”

Dolce didn’t look shaken from the glare, “What do you want from me?”

“You’re realized it, smart girl,” Marionetta let out a cackle, “Yes, I do want something from you. I have been telling you for the past few days but you completely ignored me.”

“So that’s what you wanted,” Dolce’s look at the monster softened, “The answer is no.”

“What?!” Marionetta glared at the Guardian angrily, “That was not the correct answer!”

“You never asked for one,” Dolce replied flatly, earning another angry growl from the monster.

“Fine then! It’s because of that beloved Earthmate of yours, isn’t it?” The blush on the Guardian’s face was enough for an answer, “Then you shouldn’t let him get hurt,” Marionetta looked at Dolce with a sly grin.

“Keep your hands off him!” Dolce said sternly, “I will not let you hurt him!”

“Interesting…” The sly grin never left the monster’s face, “Are you sure you’re not going yo let him get hurt? Not even from yourself?”

“What do you mean?” Dolce asked in confusion.

Marionetta broke into laughter, “What’s this? Young lady, haven’t you heard the news yet?”

Dolce stared at the amused monster for a moment before noticing that a single bubble had come out from the ground in front of her. She quickly stepped back and looked at the floating bubble between her and Marionetta, “What is this?”

“Don’t worry, this is just a rune bubble I borrowed from Thunderbolt a while ago,” Marionetta spread out its arms, “Let me show you how you can hurt him, just like how this horse guy hurt the others around him.”

The bubble flashed, revealing images of Dylas and the customers in the restaurant. No voice was heard, but the customers were talking with the male Guardian as he was carrying a plate of food with him. Suddenly, Dylas slammed the plate he was carrying on the table and took one of the customers by the collar and threw him back to the chair. The other customer got angry as well and hit Dylas hard enough that he had fallen on the table a few meters behind him.

The customers on the other table didn’t look pleased as well and the whole restaurant slowly turned to be more like a bar with people fighting all over the place. Porcoline had come out from the kitchen to stop the fight, but instead took hits from Dylas as he shielded Margaret from getting hit. The chef pushed and pinned him to a table and held Dylas’ injured hands to stop him from creating more chaos before he sternly put the fight between the customers into a complete stop.

“I… I’ve heard of this…” Dolce commented in disbelief before turning to look at Marionetta, “Is this really your doing?”

“Not exactly,” The puppet monster shrugged as it let out a sigh, “I’m not too fond of brawls and like it better if they had endless torture instead,” Marionetta looked at Dolce once more, “Long story short, I can do the same to your closest people as well. I think I’ll start with the two closest to you right now…”

“Stop.”

A sly grin returned to the monster’s face, “Yes?”

“Don’t you dare lay a finger on my family!” Dolce was looking at the monster angrily.

“It’s a deal then? You leave, I’ll let them live unharmed,” Marionetta replied, satisfied with the result it was going to get.

Dolce’s expression softened, “I don’t want to leave them because they’re too precious for me to let go, but…” The Guardian looked at the monster with a determined look, “If leaving is the only way of keeping them from harm… I’ll go as you wanted.”

Marionetta gave her a nod, “That’s what I want to hear from the start, young lady. I’ll leave you to get things ready now, so there’s no need to worry about the fever I gave you last night,” The monster disappeared from Dolce’s sight as she slowly could feel her consciousness slowly came back.

Dolce stirred in her bed and slowly sat up, feeling something warm and slightly wet had fallen to her lap. She opened eyes and saw that the wet object was actually a wet towel, which was previously put on her forehead. The Guardian carefully got off the bed without waking up the other two sleeping figures, getting her nightgown changed for her regular attire before looking out the window.

The heavy rain had stopped, but the rumbling thunder could still be heard. The light coming from the lighting illuminated the dark bedroom for a few seconds as Dolce turned to look at the people sleeping on the bed. She approached them quietly and stared at them for the last time, thinking that her decision to leave her family had come to her once more. It was to protect them, but this decision was harder for her than when she decided to become a Guardian.

“I’m sorry,” Dolce whispered sadly before she sat on the edge of the bed where Lest was sleeping. She reached out for her the Earthmate’s hair to stroke his hair, but decided not to as she was afraid she would wake him up.

Dolce turned to look at Pico, who was sleeping on the other end of the bed. Even as a ghost, Pico would still want to go to sleep just like how people usually did. Being a ghost of a child, Pico slept more or less like one as well. Even if she looked and acted like typical children, Dolce admitted that Pico could be wiser than her sometimes. After all, she had spent hundreds of years being a ghost and had seen a lot before they even met.

“Be good, Pico. I’m sorry I have to leave you again, but I know that you’re not alone anymore,” Dolce turned to look back at Lest, “Sweetie, please take care of Pico for me. Thank you for everything.”

Dolce leaned in to give him a kiss on the forehead before she quietly left the room and headed towards the town gates.

_“Good, the others should have already been waiting now,”_ Marionetta’s voice echoed in Dolce’s head.

Dolce completely ignored the monster’s voice and headed out of the gate. All of the sudden, she felt dizzy and fell to her knees, unaware of the three silhouettes waiting for her at the gate. The dizziness came into a suddenly stop and the Guardian lost her consciousness as the monster took over her body.

“Heh, took ya long enough!” A horse-like monster said.

“Well, her human need some family cleaning first, what do you expect?” A reply came from a butterfly-like monster.

“Silence you two,” The monster shaped like an old coffin spoke up, silencing the other two monsters before it turned to the shadow in front of it, “Marionetta is ready. Ambrosia, Thunderbolt, we shall all leave to see our lord immediately. A good reward is waiting for us all.”

The shadow turned into a monster shaped like a puppet as it followed its comrades, leaving a single black top hat sitting in front of the gate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is soon going to reach its climax! Another work has already been planned, but not featuring the same pair. I'm not sure when I'll start, but hopefully it'll be soon!


	23. The True Reason

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new concept is introduced here and the rest of the plot is going to be centered around that concept. Please enjoy!

The female Earthmate was nodding off as she held a book in her hand, leaning against her pillow on the bed. The sound of regular thunder would snap her awake for a few minutes so that she could continue her reading, but it only for a few words before her fatigue caught up to her. She let her head fall against the pillow, but unaware that a hard cover book was there to make contact with her head.

“Ow…” Frey let out a tired yawn as she forced herself to open her eyes wide and continue her reading.

Frey had spent the whole night trying to read the book written in a language she was supposed to be familiar with, but there were too many words she couldn’t understand yet. She let out a tired sigh as she drowsily slid a different book to her side. She opened the new book, which was written in two different languages.

Frey let out another yawn as she scanned the book, “Maybe… maybe I should take Mother’s lessons more seriously when she was still alive,” The female Earthmate carefully flipped the worn pages of the book, “And learn more about our tasks as a family of Earthmates… huh?” Frey stopped once she found a page with a map drawn on it.

The map was none other than a map of Norad, but focusing more on the Selphia section and the border heading towards the Sechs Empire. Frey read the notes carefully and turned to the next page, which had the information she had been seeking. While it might not be enough to solve the crisis, she knew that she had a lead on what to be done and it had to be done before everything was too late.

Frey kicked herself off her bed and headed straight towards Lest’s room. She put a hand on the door as she was about to push it open, until she realized something, “Wait, he’s not single anymore…” Frey stepped back in embarrassment, “I shouldn’t barge into a married couple’s room in the middle of the night…”

The female Earthmate turned to head for the door and stopped in the middle of the slightly damp floor of the plaza. She looked up at the sky and much to her horror, it was completely dark. The sound of thunder could be heard, but she couldn’t see any signs of lighting. It felt like she had been trapped in the darkness as the whole town was covered in thick dark fog.

Frey reached for her necklace, which glowed in response to her touch, “I hope this works for me…” The necklace grew brighter and brighter as it formed a big ball of light, swallowing Frey’s whole body inside.

* * *

_“…ke …est…”_

Lest slightly stirred in his sleep, not completely aware of the sound of someone calling out to him.

_“… wake up…”_

The voice was getting clearer in his ears, but he was still too tired to recognize whose voice it was.

Pico let out an irritated sigh as she hovered above Lest’s sleeping body, _“I don’t understand how Dolly can wake him up easily every morning…”_

The Earthmate turned to the side, completely ignoring the hovering ghost above him. Pico hovered lower to him and grabbed Lest by the shoulder, shaking him frantically, _“Lest, wake up! Please wake up already!”_

Lest could feel his body moving around and stirred awake, letting out a big yawn. He sat up on the edge of the bed and turned to his side, “Good morning Dol… Pico?”

_“Snap out of it, Lest! We have an emergency!”_ Lest gave her a confused look in return, still unaware of the situation, _“We don’t have time for this! Dolly is missing!”_

“Huh? What?” The sudden news completely snapped him awake.

_“Come on, we have to find her! If I’m still here, then she should be nearby!”_ Pico hovered out of the room in panic, leaving Lest to get ready by himself in a rush.

“Pico, wait!” Lest yelled in the hallway, trying to get the attention of the ghost a few meters away from him, “I’ll look for her on the west side of the town, so you go check…” Pico had been too far for her to hear him even as he had yelled, “Okay, I’ll search the entire town from land. I’ll find you Dolly, so please be safe…”

The hazel-haired Earthmate ran out of the castle and through the entire town, but there was no sign of his wife anywhere. By asking around, Lest had also found out that Dolce wasn’t the only missing person in town. Amber, Dylas, and Leon had been missing as well and no one had seen any of them since last night. Arthur had left the town since early in the morning, leaving Kiel to handle their joint research in Arthur’s office.

Lest had stopped in front of the castle after looking around all morning with no luck and was resting his legs from all that running around he did. He didn’t know why Dolce had suddenly left him and Pico as they had just made up from the recent argument they had. Lest knew that his wife wasn’t the type of person to hold grudges, so her reason of leaving shouldn’t have been him. If it wasn’t him, then would Pico be the reason for her leaving?

_“Lest!”_ Pico’s sudden appearance in front of Lest had stopped him from his train of thoughts, _“Did you find her? Did you find Dolly?!”_

“Sorry,” Lest apologized, giving the ghost a sense of disappointment, “If she’s not here, then she should be out of town…”

_“That’s not possible…”_ Pico and Lest sighed in disappointment, before she suddenly realized something, _“Unless…”_

“Unless?” Lest looked at Pico expectantly.

Pico looked at Lest with a frown, _“If she is in her monster form, it’s possible… B-But that can’t be…”_

Lest turned to the entrance to the dragon room, prompting Pico to do it as well, “If she turns back into a Guardian again, something must be wrong with Venti. I doubt Dolly is the only one who turns back into a Guardian again.”

_“Ven…”_ Pico slowly followed Lest as he went into the dragon room, _“She was just fine yesterday…”_

When the two of them entered, the wind dragon was lying down in the middle of the room. He couldn’t really tell whether the dragon god was simply sleeping or was getting weaker as a person had stood in front of her head. The visitor stood still while being aware of the newcomers, still having her back turned against them.

“Frey,” Lest called out to the person, “What’s going on? Is Venti…?”

“We don’t have much time,” Frey replied while having her back still turned against him, “Lady Ventuswill won’t survive if we don’t do something fast. And… it’s not just her,” Frey turned to look at Lest and Pico with a serious look, “The Guardians, as well as the whole Selphia, is in danger.”

_“Dolly is in danger?!”_ Pico asked worriedly and in panic.

“Yes, but I don’t know where the Guardians had gone to,” Frey walked aside, showing the face of weakened Ventuswill to the two, “The Guardians must have been absorbing the corrupted runes while they’re here, so when they’re gone…”

“Venti is the one absorbing all of the corrupted runes…” Lest approached the wind dragon, putting a hand on her head, “I want to make sure Venti is well, but if that’s the case then…”

“Lest, take this,” Lest turned to look at Frey, who handed him a familiar black top hat, “You know who this belongs to, right?”

“This…” Lest took the hat in surprise, “This is Dolly’s hat!”

“Yes,” Frey nodded, “I found it near the gate last night. We can be sure that the Guardians left town last night, but we still don’t know where they went. But… my true reason for being here might have something to do with their leaving.”

_“If there’s something you’re hiding, you better say it!”_ A slight anger came from Pico, _“If you’re involved in making her leave… I don’t think I can forgive you. I can’t see you as a sister or even a friend. You’re just a stranger…”_

Frey looked at the angered Pico calmly, “I can’t say everything, especially because we’re running out of time,” Frey turned to Lest, “The corrupted runes brings out negative thoughts and the affected people tend to get a little more… emotional…”

“Please,” Lest gave Frey a pleading look, “If there’s anything you know that can help in bringing them back, please tell us.”

Frey couldn’t stand the look on her brother’s face and turned herself away to avoid his eyes, “Sorry, but all I know is the reason the culprit does all of this. I just hope that is enough to find out who did it and where the Guardians were taken.”

_“Dolly,”_ Lest saw as Pico whispered sadly before turning back to Frey.

“We’ll listen,” Lest spoke up, “Tell us what you know.”

Frey paused for a moment as she held on to her necklace before she finally started her explanation, “There is one sacred place only a certain family of Earthmates knows, because their family is destined to protect it,” The green-haired Earthmate let go of her necklace and turned around, “Lest, you and I are a part of that family. I’m here to find that place myself on behalf of our late mother, as she had passed down her own research notes regarding that place.”

“What is that place?” Lest asked.

Frey looked at the other two for a moment before continuing, “A place called a rune lake. It’s a place where pure rune energy gathered from the Forest of Beginnings before it poured out to the outside world. The runes are completely free from all kinds of corruption from the souls of evil people in the forest, but it’s also sensitive to corruption from the outside. If that place gets corrupted, then the whole world will get the corrupted runes. Judging from the current situation, the rune lake has been found and the corruption is already starting.”

Lest and Pico looked at Frey silently, now aware of the situation, “And you’re here to prevent this from happening?”

“Yes, but that’s from the king’s orders,” Frey replied, “My true reason is to locate the lake and completely seal it off. The lake has been corrupted enough over the past thousands of years, so the corruption is much worse than it was previously.”

_“We now know something else about our situation,”_ Pico suddenly spoke up, _“But… it still doesn’t help if we don’t know who did it…”_

“I know,” Frey nodded confidently, “I have a possible candidate, so I asked Arthur-”

“Prince! There you are!” Frey was cut off suddenly by the light blue-haired butler as he had run into the room, “We received a letter from the Sechs Empire and, and…”

“Vishnal, calm down!” Lest could guess that Vishnal had either been running around looking for him as he was trying to catch his breath, “Okay, so what’s this letter is about?”

“Um…” Lest looked at him in worry as the butler gave him a frown, “The Sechs demanded a trade, between the missing four people and the two of you. They wanted both of you alive to come to their territory.”

“I knew it,” Frey’s comment was a surprise to the butler, while Lest and Pico had already had their suspicions, “You two must have suspected the same as well, I suppose.”

“Is there anything I missed?” Vishnal asked in confusion.

“I’m sorry, Vishnal. This is something that we can’t tell you about,” Frey answered with an awkward smile, “Say, has Arthur returned yet?”

“Ah, yes. In fact, it was Arthur who got that message for me to deliver,” Vishnal replied with his usual polite smile.

“Okay, thanks,” Vishnal left the room with a polite bow as Frey turned her attention back to Pico and Lest, “You two should come with me. I’ve asked Arthur this morning to bring in someone to us for help. We’re going to bring the Guardians back and try to put an end to this mess.”

_“Yes! Now this is what I want to hear!”_


	24. Unexpected

“Achoo!” The sneeze coming from the hazel-haired Earthmate echoed throughout the snow-covered forest.

“Are you okay Lest?” Frey asked worriedly, “Do you bring any thicker clothes? Or do you have any warmer armor equipped?”

“No, I’m fine,” Lest rubbed his hands in order to warm himself a bit more, but noticed that his sister wasn’t wearing any thicker clothes and she didn’t look like she was bothered by the weather, “Your clothes don’t look like they’re any thicker than mine, so how come that you don’t look too bothered by the cold?”

“Huh? Well, it’s…” As the green-haired Earthmate looked around nervously, an idea suddenly came into her mind, “Military training! Yeah, that’s it! My training makes me more resistant to the cold!”

“The young lady is correct,” A voice came from behind the bushes as an armored man walked towards them, “Sechs soldiers are trained to be able to withstand the extreme weather, from this cold weather to the burning hot summer. That kind of weather resistance training is just the beginning, sadly…”

“I hear you, Kane,” Frey commented sympathetically with Lest watching them curiously.

_“Is it that cold here?”_ The ghost girl popped in the middle of the three, _“I don’t feel anything at all, to be honest.”_

Lest could feel that Pico was expecting to be struck down with the comment saying that she shouldn’t be able to feel cold as a ghost, which was something he often heard coming from a certain Guardian. Her being missing had left a hole within Lest and Pico, who were Dolce’s closest people other than her adoptive parents. A trade offered by the Sechs would allow them to get their Guardian friends back, but both Lest and Frey had to come for the in exchange.

“Hey uh… Lest, right?” Kane called out to Lest, “If you’re worried about your wife, let me say that I can ensure that she, along with the rest of the Guardians, are safe and sound. It may sound like an empty promise, but I know that the current Sechs won’t be as traitorous as you knew before.”

Lest saw the honesty and trust from the soldier’s eyes and gave him a nod, “Okay, I’ll trust you. Now let’s get going.”

“Right,” Kane replied with a nod before he started walking away, “It’s this way.”

The Earthmates and Pico followed Kane through the forest which seemed to have the same scenery no matter how long they had walked. Years had passed since Lest came into the area when he was trying to recover the stolen rune spheres and the scenery of the Sechs’ territory had changed completely. They hadn’t come across any monsters or any other soldiers, making the area almost like it had been completely abandoned. It felt like it was completely void of life until the suddenly rustling coming from the snow-covered bushes from their side.

Kane responded by having his hand ready on his sword hilt as he looked around the small clearing they were in. Seeing the soldier’s response, Lest and Frey had their weapons ready as well with Pico looking around for any signs of danger. Frey suddenly stepped to the side and quickly spun her spear, reflecting an incoming arrow from the side.

“Everyone, spread out!” Kane yelled out and the four of them quickly moved in different direction as a big boulder landed hard on the spot where they used to be.

Once the dust had cleared, an army of Sechs soldier had already been waiting in front of them. The archers behind the armored soldier began raining the group with arrows, which was easily blown away with Lest’s wind magic and Frey’s spinning spear. Kane charged towards the soldiers, hitting the soldiers with his sheathed sword before elbowing them out of the way.

“Pico, stay behind us!” Lest called out to the ghost girl, who shook her head in disagreement.

_“I’m fighting too! I’m doing this to find Dolly!”_ Pico flew ahead of them, making the soldiers swing their swords all over the place as she kept on teleporting to dodge the incoming swords.

“We’ll have to clean these guys fast,” Frey took out her hammer, “We’re running out of time here.”

Lest nodded in agreement, “Yeah,” Lest got his dual blades ready, “We need an opening to get through them.”

Nodding at each other, Lest and Frey charged toward the incoming soldiers. Lest dodged a sword aimed at his head before he brought down the blade on his left to the back of the soldier. The attack landed hard as the soldier fell down to the ground, but another had come as a backup towards him. Lest had his back completely turned to the incoming soldier, but another one had collided with him just in time before Lest could get hit.

The flying soldier had come from Frey’s side of the field, which had produced soldiers flying towards many different directions. The soldiers who could get close enough to her would either get elbowed hard on the gut or a punch in the face, leaving her almost completely untouchable. Another hammer user from behind as she was sending the others flying everywhere, knocking her towards Lest.

Lest was pushed back as he was blocking an attack from a soldier, completely unaware that his sister was flying towards him. They both collided and were sent towards a dead tree, landing on the cold snowy surface. As Lest was knocked out cold under her, Frey tried pushing herself up and got ready for another round of fighting, unaware of the weak ground beneath both of them.

Pico had teleported out of the field and towards the Earthmates as she noticed what happened to them, _“Lest! Frey!”_

“I’m going to be fine!” Frey brushed off the snow from her clothes, “Take care of Lest while… huh?”

Cracking sounds could be heard from the area they were in, loud enough for Kane to notice it. Kane quickly turned to the soldier he locked swords with and swung it hard enough for the soldier to be thrown to the side before he quickly ran to their side, “Lest! Frey! Watch out!” It was too late for Kane as the ground beneath Lest and Frey collapsed and the two Earthmates fell into the deep dark hole.

* * *

“… st… Lest… Lest!”

Frey desperately called out to her brother, but was relieved when Lest slowly moved his body around. The male Earthmate could feel pain on his head as he sat up, still unaware of the unfamiliar surroundings. Lest kept holding his head as he opened his eyes to see that the surrounding area was bright.

He raised his head and saw a blurry pond of light in the distance, “Where… is this?”

_“Are you two okay!?”_ Pico suddenly popped out in front of them, surprising Frey enough for her to cling to Lest.

“Y-Yes, I think…” Frey was still in shock before turning to Lest, who was slightly choked by the grip she had on him, “Sorry!”

Lest let out a loud sigh as Frey let him go, “Yeah, that’s okay…”

_“Now that’s aside…”_ Pico turned around to look at what seemed to be a pond of light from the distance, _“What is this place anyway?”_

“Somewhere underground, that’s for sure… wait,” Frey suddenly took off towards the pond, prompting Lest and Pico to run after her.

“Wait up!” Lest called out before he stopped beside Frey, right in front of the pond of light.

Frey was looking at the pond in shock and the pond was actually bigger than it was seen from the spot where they fell. It was bigger than the Dragon Lake back in Selphia, but the lake wasn’t filled with water. Runeys were flying around and from the lake before they went through the ceiling of the unknown cave the three of them were in.

“So this is it… the rune lake…” Frey spoke up in awe, surprising the other two.

“Rune lake… so you mean…”

“Yes,” Frey nodded, “This is the place we’re supposed to find and protect.”

Pico flew on top of the lake and looked down, _“It’s warm… and yet I usually can’t feel it…”_

Frey looked down at the lake, “The amount of runes is still low, but it’s still at a safe level.”

“Tell me,” Lest spoke up, “Why are we supposed to protect this place? And from what should it be protected?”

“Because,” Frey extended her hand to touch a runey before it turned into a small ball of light, “this is where pure runes are from. Runes free from evil souls, but also very sensitive to that kind of corruption. Pure rune energy is the strongest form of rune energy, which is enough to turn a regular human being into… an Earthmate.”

“So that’s why…”

“Yes, but not just a regular human being can become an Earthmate,” Frey continued, “Only the person with the purest heart to do good deeds can become one.”

“What if it’s someone who wants power? What would happen then?” Lest asked.

Frey could feel a slight ache in her heart, even though Lest was referring to another person. Letting him know the answer should have been fine, but things would turn out bad for her should he know about her past, “I… don’t know…”

“I see…” Lest replied calmly.

Lest, having completely forgotten about his past, was still confused of his supposed responsibility as an Earthmate. He was in awe with what he had seen, but he couldn’t feel any special connection with the lake. He assumed that he either had never been to that place or he simply never knew about the rune lake. He looked around for a possible exit to the surface as the hole they came from was too high up and luckily found a path leading out of the place.

“Frey,” Lest spoke up, “While it’s good to know that we’ve found the place you wanted to find, I think we should leave this place for now.”

“I know what you mean,” Frey replied, but she was still looking at the lake, “Can you two leave me here for a short moment?”

“Okay, if that’s what you need,” Lest turned to Pico, who was still hovering above the lake in awe, “Come on, Pico.”

Lest and Pico left for the exit while Frey stayed behind and closed her eyes. The floating runeys responded to her action as they flew around faster and seemed like they were pouring out of the lake. The female Earthmate suddenly felt a sharp pain in her hands and the pain led her to open her eyes which gave her a horrifying sight.

Her hands were turning invisible as she felt the pain in her hands, as if her hands were being pulled out of her arms forcefully. She held her hands together while holding down the pain as a part of her arms had started turning invisible as well, _‘Not now… Please, not now! Just… a while longer…’_

The pain on Frey’s hands and arms slowly faded as they turned visible once more, making the Earthmate sigh in relief. Frey noticed that the runeys were back to normal, flying around the area in a normal pace. Frey held her necklace firmly before walking away and towards the spot where Lest and Pico had been waiting for her.

* * *

_“Are you sure we’re not going deeper?”_ Pico asked as she followed the two Earthmates in front of her, _“It’s just getting darker and darker.”_

“I hope not…” Lest replied tiredly, “It feels like we’ve been walking for hours now…”

“No, I think we’re going somewhere else,” Frey spoke up, getting the attention of the other two, “This might be our only way of getting out of here, but I can feel that this isn’t going to be a pleasant journey out of this place. I can feel that the rune energy flowing around this place is corrupted.”

“If the runes are corrupted, I think we’re close to the very people we’re supposed to see,” Lest responded, “I just hope that Dolly and the others are there and unharmed.”

_“Yeah…”_ Pico nodded with a frown on her face, before she noticed some light coming from the front, _“Huh? Are we almost at the exit?”_

“I think we’re almost there!” Lest took off along with Frey and Pico, finding themselves inside a building made of stone walls.

_“This doesn’t look like an exit…”_ Pico commented.

Frey looked around cautiously before she put her hammer beside her, “On your guards, you two. I sense that we’re not alone here.”

Lest looked around on guard as he held on to his dual blades, before noticing the silhouette of a monster behind him. He turned around and pointed his swords, but all he saw was a black spiky thorn coming out from the ground, covered with colorful flowers. As he had his back turned against the unfamiliar guest, he was tackled into the ground before he had the chance to react.

Lest quickly turned around and the shape of the silhouette became clearer to him as it left into hiding, “I know… I know that form!”


	25. Dreams of Flying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A long chapter ahead!

“Dodge!” Frey called out to Pico and Lest, who quickly moved out the way as the flying monster flew towards them.

Frey tried to restrict the monster’s movement by using her earth magic to create rock pillars around it, but they were skillfully dodged as it dived down to strike her. Frey jumped out of the way and pulled out her spear, barely poking the monster’s wings. The monster took off and headed away from her, heading towards Lest and Pico instead.

“Frey!” Lest called out as he and Pico dodged and incoming tackle from the monster, “I know this monster! I’ve fought it before! It’s Ambrosia, Amber’s monster form!”

“I knew it,” Frey switched her spear with her hammer, “The corrupted rune energy has strengthened the monsters, including the ones which should’ve been sent to the forest. The monsters the Guardians were fused with are controlling their actions right now.”

“So… what should we do to bring them back?” Lest asked before noticing the hammer Frey was holding as well as her battle stance, “Is fighting… our only choice?”

_“I don’t really want to fight Dolly’s friends but…”_ Pico went to her position between Lest and Frey, _“I want to save them, so Dolly won’t be sad for losing someone else.”_

“Frey… Pico…” Lest looked at the two girls before nodding confidently and turned to the monster with his short sword in his right and a shield on his left, “Let’s go!”

Ambrosia raised both of its arms above its head as the three charged at it, ready for the incoming attack. Butterflies of various colors flew from behind the monster, flying towards the three fighters. Frey side-stepped to her right and used her wind magic to try and blow away some of the butterflies, only to have a few of them aimed at Pico and Lest.

Pico spun around with her hands spread out, slapping away the butterflies into every direction while Lest kept on charging towards Ambrosia while blocking the butterflies with his shield. When he was only a few centimeters apart from the butterfly monster, Lest swung his sword to strike it, only to be dodged as Ambrosia had spun out of the way.

Little did it notice that it had spun towards Frey’s hammer, landing a hard hit on the back before it was sent flying towards the wall. Lest took the chance to land a weak blow across the monster’s chest with his sword, tearing a minor wound with some dark energy pouring out of the wound. A spot of light came after, swallowing the entire room as voices and images came into the three’s heads.

* * *

_“Wow… The sky is so pretty!” A green-haired girl was standing on top of a green hill as she looked at the clear sky while spreading her arms, “I want to fly… I want to fly in the pretty sky!”_

_“There you are, big sis!” A little girl with similar hair color ran towards the older girl, “My mama and papa are looking all over the town for you!”_

_The older girl turned with a smile, revealing herself to be Amber, “Okay, but can I stay here a little longer?”_

_“Big sis!” The little girl stomped her feet in annoyance, “Come on! Let’s go back to my mama and papa so I can go out to play!”_

_“Okay, Erin,” Amber took the girl’s hand, “When we get back, let’s play together.”_

_The girl, Erin, was jumping for joy before she hugged Amber, “You’re the best, big sis!”_

* * *

“What… what was that…?” Lest looked around as the light faded, only to be knocked to the ground hard.

“Lest!” Frey and Pico called out before the monster flew towards both of them.

Ambrosia charged towards Frey and tried hitting her with its arms and legs, but Frey managed to block all the attacks single-handedly using her empty hands. The female Earthmate countered with a few punches before pushing it backwards with her rolling strike combination towards an expecting Pico. The ghost’s own punches managed to send Ambrosia back to Frey, who delivered a hard blow to send it flying.

Lest, now completely aware of the resuming fight, switched his short sword and shield with his dual blades. He charged towards Ambrosia, which had taken off once more to spread some colored gas. Lest kept on charging to land a few slashes on it, but the gas had covered his sight completely that his attacks had missed.

“Lest, get out of there!” Frey yelled worriedly, “It’s the sleeping gas!”

Lest quickly ran out of the area just in time, but the drowsiness he had from being there too long made him unable to withstand Ambrosia’s incoming sonic wave. The attack had pushed him out of the way as well as making himself too dizzy to even stand, but Frey was quick enough to hold him before he fell on his back.

Frey carefully put Lest on a sitting position on the ground before she charged in with her hammer once more. Her hammer swings made contact with Ambrosia’s arms and legs, which were ready to block the heavy weapon’s incoming attacks. As the two were exchanging blows, a series of fireballs struck Ambrosia’s side, knocking it out from the close combat.

Lest had supported himself by stabbing his long sword to the ground while he fired some fireballs towards Ambrosia. While its attention was turned towards Lest, Pico took the chance for a quick tackle while Frey threw her spear towards the monster. The ghost girl’s attack could be dodged easily, but it led itself getting stabbed by the spear on the shoulder.

Lest pushed his long sword before taking it by the hilt and slowly dragged it as he charged towards the butterfly monster. The hazel-haired Earthmate ignored the stinging pain as a few colorful butterflies Ambrosia had sent him covered his arms and slowly raised his long sword for a giant swing. He put the weight of his body to his right foot as he swung his sword towards the butterfly monster while sending a few smaller butterflies off his arms.

The attack connected to its abdomen and the force had sent it back to the ground with more dark energy pouring out of the wound. The three kept their guards up as the monster was getting up, but the same spot of light came from the wound as well and covered the whole field once more.

* * *

_“You are an orphan?” A big green dragon looked down at Amber, who was standing on the grassy land in front of the dragon, “I have assumed that Erin truly is your sister, and her parents are your actual parents. The two of you look so similar that I had assumed so and that was the reason I had Erin to take you back home when I found you.”_

_“No, we’re both orphans from different families,” Amber looked at the dragon with a smile, “We just happened to have similar hair color.”_

_“I see,” The dragon slowly nodded, “My apologies for the wrong conclusion.”_

_“That’s okay, because they’re really my family now,” Amber replied in her usual cheerful tone, “How about you, Ven? Don’t you have any friends and family?”_

_“H-Huh?” The dragon looked at her in confusion, “What did you just call me?!”_

_Amber let out a giggle, which confused the dragon even further, “I like the nickname ‘Ven’, you know. It’s cute and it’s much shorter than ‘Ventuswill’.”_

_“You can’t just address a dragon god whatever you like!” The dragon, Ventuswill, protested as she ducked down to the girl’s level, “I’ll eat you, you hear me?”_

_A frown suddenly replaced Amber’s smile, “I’m sorry if you don’t like it…”_

_The sudden frown had earned the sympathy of the dragon god, “W-Wait! It’s not that I don’t like it! It’s just…” Ventuswill let out a defeated sigh, “Okay, you can call me anything you want. Just not anything that sounds not majestic or silly for a god, okay?”_

_“Don’t worry, Ven,” The smile returned to Amber’s face, “I think the name ‘Ven’ suits you well.”_

_Amber’s attention turned to Ventuswill’s wings on the dragon’s side. Amber was looking at them with expectant eyes before Erin had surprised her from behind._

* * *

“What’s going on?” Frey looked around the field as the images had faded from her head, _‘Was that… a memory?’_

“Look out!” Frey was too occupied in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice a group of small butterflies coming her way.

Lest pushed Frey out of the way before the butterflies pushed him against the wall. The attack didn’t damage him much, but it was powerful enough for a group of butterflies against a grown man. The group of butterflies split into two groups heading to the sides before reuniting as a group once more. The butterflies lined up to form a fist-like shape to strike, but Lest had rolled himself away before he could get hit.

The impact was strong enough to cause a smokescreen to cover the area around Lest, which left him prone to attacks from the outside. Knowing the fact, Lest used his dual blade combo attack in order to protect himself from any possible attacks coming from any directions. A silhouette slowly became visible to the hazel-haired Earthmate, but not in the shape that was recognizable to him.

Frey was standing near the smokescreen area, blocking Ambrosia from attacking Lest in a barely blinded state. Just as the monster was slowly approaching her, Frey raised her hammer over her head before bringing it down to the ground. The hammer’s impact was hard enough to create a small crater as Ambrosia had flown away to safety before charging back towards Frey.

Lest came out of the smoke and kicked the monster away from Frey, who was struggling to take out her hammer. Pico chipped some damage in while Lest was approaching the fallen Ambrosia, only to be knocked away by the monster. It was too late for the butterfly monster to react when Lest was only a few centimeters apart with his dual blades ready.

Lest landed several slashes with both of his swords as he spun around while leaving the monster barely able to dodge. The Earthmate ended his combo with a spinning slash and a kick to the side at the end of the spin to send it back to the ground. More dark energy poured out, followed by another spot of light.

* * *

_“Yay! This is so much fun!” Amber yelled in excitement as she sat on Ventuswill’s back while they were flying._

_“I-I’m scared…” Erin was hiding her face in Amber’s back while tightly hugging her from behind._

_Ventuswill let out a laugh, “Come on, don’t be afraid! Just enjoy the wind blowing on your face!”_

_“I don’t wanna! I want to go home!” Erin cried in fear._

_“It’s okay, Erin,” Amber slightly turned to her back, “Ven isn’t going as fast as she used to be now. You don’t need to worry about falling.”_

_“H-Huh? What do you mean I’m not as fast as I used to be?” Ventuswill asked in panic, “I’m going with the usual speed!”_

_“We can get down now if you’re easily tired, Ven,” Amber told the dragon god, “We can fly faster when you’re not that tired anymore.”_

_There was a slight pause before Ventuswill gave her reply, “Alright… we’re heading down now.”_

* * *

_‘Another memory…’_ Frey thought as she looked at the monster, which was slowly getting up, _‘It turns out just as I feared…’_

Ambrosia let out a loud roar before it quickly charged and tackled Frey off her feet and straight towards the wall. The monster’s sonic wave became wider and stronger, easily pushing Pico and Lest towards the wall as well. Frey was barely conscious, but the monster didn’t take the easy target and headed for the still-ready Lest instead.

Lest switched into his short sword and shield combination once more before raising his shield to block Ambrosia’s swift arms and legs from hitting him. A powerful push managed to knock his shield’s position to the side before a single kick knocked him back a few meters. The Earthmate switched his short sword for a longer one as the monster was quickly approaching him.

Lest put all his might into a single powerful swing, only to be dodged easily due to the poor aim. The sword landed on Lest’s other side, leaving his back exposed for an easy attack. Just as Ambrosia was about to punch him, the monster was knocked by a series of dark balls coming from Frey. As the monster was recovering, Lest created a few light balls around him to protect him while he fought in close distance.

Frey showered Ambrosia with a series of magic attacks while Lest and Pico were heading towards the monster. A rock pillar pushed it from behind and towards two water lasers followed by a series of wind cutters and a big fire ball to knock it off balance. Just as it was about to hit the ground, another rock pillar pushed the helpless monster back up.

Pico followed the attack with a combination of slaps and kicks before throwing it towards Lest. Lest swung his sword with both hands, landing a few strikes at the front before putting all the weight into his left foot and dealt the last blow with a powerful spinning slash. The impact from the sword’s swing had sent the monster flying towards the wall.

The monster’s limp body glowed in white light as it fell from the crumbling wall before the butterfly monster’s form changed back into human form.

* * *

_“Big sis, is this really what you want to do?” Erin asked Amber as they stood in the middle of a forest._

_Amber gave her a firm nod, “If this is to save Ven, I’ll do it. I’ll become the next Guardian.”_

_“But we’re so close!” Erin protested, “You don’t have to do this! I can find another way to help Ven!”_

_Amber shook her head before approaching the younger girl and gave her a hug, “I’m sorry, but it’s just as you told me before. There isn’t much time left.”_

_“But…”_

_“Aren’t you happy, Erin?” Amber asked with her usual smile, “Aren’t you happy to finally see your birth parents? To know that you’re truly needed in this world?”_

_“I need you too, big sis… Aren’t we a family?” Erin was looking at Amber with tears in her eyes._

_“We are,” Amber nodded, “Ven is our family too and I’m the only one who can do this.”_

_“What about me? I can be a Guardian too!” Erin gave her protests, but Amber shook her head._

_“No, because you’re the only one who can turn someone into a Guardian,” Amber gave her one last smile, “Please, Earthmate. I want to help Ven in my own way, and you to help her with your knowledge.”_

_“I…” Erin wiped her tears as she stretched her arms in front of her, “I will never forget you, Big Sis Amber. I promise, I will help Ven so you can wake up from your sleep soon.”_

* * *

“Um…” Amber let out a quiet groan as she slowly opened her eyes, seeing the three familiar faces above her.

_“Are you okay now?”_ Pico asked as Amber slowly sat up.

Amber looked around in confusion, “Where am I?”

“Don’t worry, you’re safe now. That monster isn’t going to haunt you anymore,” Frey answered, but Amber was still confused about one thing.

“What… monster?” Amber asked in confusion.

“Um… it’s-”

“We’ll explain later,” Frey cut off Lest’s answer before turning to him, “We don’t have much time left.”

“Okay but…” Lest turned back to the confused Amber, “What about her? Can we send her back somehow?”

“No, things should be fine here,” Frey looked around the area, “The corrupted runes are at a safe level here, but we can’t get her out with escape magic as long as the runes are still corrupted.”

“If I should stay here, then I’ll stay,” Amber went back to her feet and smiled, “I don’t know what’s going on and what you’re all doing, but good luck!”

Lest nodded and smiled back, “Don’t worry, we will.”

The three left the room, leaving Amber alone in the room. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes, trying to enjoy herself on her own in the room. It was until a voice was heard in her head once more. It was the same voice she had heard previously.

* * *

_“Amber,” A butterfly-like monster spoke up in front of Amber._

_“Huh? Who are you?” Amber asked in confusion._

_“I… have no name…” The monster answered, “I am only a monster who stayed in a human body just because that human requested me to do so.”_

_“You…” Amber was confused at first, until she remembered something, “Oh! You’re the monster who was fused with me, right?”_

_“Correct,” The monster replied shortly, “I have to apologize for taking over your body, after I was consumed by the corrupted runes myself. For that, I do not deserve to stay with you anymore. It is best so that I will not harm any more of your friends.”_

_“Okay…” Amber gave the monster a nod, “But… isn’t it sad to have no name at all?”_

_The monster went silent for a moment, “I appreciate your concern, but it is how it should turn out to be.”_

_“I want to give you a name,” Amber’s words had surprised the monster, “You’re also my friend for a long time, so I want to give you a name.”_

_“I have no need for a name, but I will allow you to give me one,” The monster replied._

_“From now on, your name will be ‘Bless’,” Amber replied with a smile._

_“My name is… Bless?” The monster asked._

_Amber gave the monster a nod, “I miss my old friends and life, but I like my current one. If I didn’t meet you then, I won’t be able to meet new friends. That’s why you’re blessing me a new life and new friends.”_

_“I see…” The monster, Bless, responded, “Then I, Bless, shall be leaving you to your new life and friends,” Bless slowly disappeared from Amber’s sight, leaving her on her own._

_“Goodbye Bless, my old friend…”_


	26. Fishing Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update, guys! A few hours late though, but it's still here!

“Frey,” The hazel-haired Earthmate suddenly called out, breaking the silence in the dark cave, “When we were fighting Ambrosia, did you see anything strange? Like… memories?”

“Memories?” Frey replied with a question before she realized what he had meant, “Oh, you mean that.”

_“I saw them too, you know,”_ Pico chimed in, _“It’s almost like Amber’s memories before she became a Guardian.”_

“They might look like it, but they aren’t actually memories,” Frey looked up at the ceiling, which was covered with dark clouds, “It’s more like… dreams… Amber was sleeping when the monster attacked us and Amber’s dream somehow had poured out for us to see.”

“Are you saying that light was Amber’s dream pouring out?” Lest asked, getting a nod from Frey.

“Most likely.”

Pico was paying attention to the conversing Earthmates until she noticed how the area had become wider and brighter, “Hey, look!”

The three of them stopped in a small room in the cave with the room’s source of light standing in the middle of the room. The light came from the bright blue mane of a horse-like monster, which noticed their presence and let out a cry. The monster ran towards the three as they were getting their weapons ready, but it couldn’t hit any of them as they moved out of the way in time.

“Thunderbolt,” Lest recognized the horse-like monster, “It’s Dylas’ monster form.”

“We’ll do the same to it just like we did with Ambrosia,” Frey aimed her spear at Thunderbolt’s head, “We have to defeat it to bring Dylas back.”

_“I can help you too!”_ Pico joined in, _“I think I can use my magic now.”_

“I hope you’re right with your ability in magic,” Lest aimed his short sword at Thunderbolt’s head as well, “If not, we’re going to have a hard time with it.”

Thunderbolt let out another cry before sending out a barrage of wind cutters followed by a three-way laser from its horn. Lest managed to block the wind magic attack with his shield, but the laser went through it and created a scar on his arm. Frey moved away from the attacks and towards the cave wall before slamming it lightly with her palm to summon some earth pillars from under the monster.

Thunderbolt was stuck between the pillars with one of them barely missing its side of the neck, leaving it vulnerable for Lest to attack with his shield instead. The Earthmate hit it with his shield before turning his body and landing the first slash on its body. Lest jumped out of the way as Frey charged in and sent Thunderbolt free from the pillars with a single punch. The scar left by Lest’s sword had made some dark energy to come pouring out, followed by a spot of light.

* * *

_“It’s your turn to fish, Dylas,” A man spoke up from a small group of three men standing beside the river, “Are you sure you’re gonna be fine?”_

_“Why not?” Dylas, who had his long blue hair tied up into a low ponytail, “What can a fish do to me?”_

_“Well, you know what? Don’t mind him,” Another man spoke up with a laugh, “Do your worst, buddy! Let’s see if you can catch a lot of fish without a single tool!”_

_“Heh,” Dylas scoffed proudly, “You better prepare what I asked once I get the number of fish you requested.”_

_“Sure thing, buddy. Just get down there already,” The man responded with a half-hearted nod as Dylas rolled his pants before jumping down the river._

* * *

Thunderbolt’s sudden cry snapped the three from the dream as the horse-like monster had begun charging towards Lest. Lest tried using his shield to use the monster’s impact and send himself to the side, but its tackle was too powerful for him to handle and he was thrown back towards the cave wall behind him. The monster was about to stab him with its horn, but the dark balls from Pico’s magic had turned its attention to Pico instead.

Pico sent out more dark balls at the charging monster, but the balls could barely hit the fast-moving horse monster. Just as it was only a few inches apart from the ghost girl, Frey knocked the monster away with her trusty hammer. Thunderbolt was thrown to the other side of the room where Lest was waiting with his shield and long sword.

Lest put a bit of momentum as he used his shield to attack the monster once more to push it back to the other direction before swinging his long sword down. Due to the heaviness of the sword, the attack only hit Thunderbolt’s horn and damaged a bit. The sword became stuck into the ground, which required Lest to put an extra effort to pull it out.

The shockwave coming from Thunderbolt slamming its front legs could be avoided as Lest clung to the hilt of his sword and jumped. The grip on his sword became tighter as he tried spinning himself to land a kick on the monster before using his weight to pull the long sword out and swing it across Thunderbolt’s chest.

Lest was vulnerable from Thunderbolt’s attack as the sword’s weight had ruined his balance, but the barrage of fireballs and dark balls from Frey and Pico had pushed the monster against the wall. More dark energy poured out from the slash wound as the entire cave became engulfed with bright light once more.

* * *

_“Oh, come on!” Dylas dived down the river with a spear, only to have himself half-drowned in the river with his targets swimming all over the place._

_Dylas tried getting up from his position, but a sudden passing fish had surprised him that he fell back into the water in a sitting position. His spear was broken and stuck underwater as he watched himself being surrounded with smaller fish, looking at him as if they were mocking him for failing to spear them. He let out an angry growl before forcing himself up, scaring away all the fish around him._

_Dylas came out from the water with his clothes completely drenched and empty handed. He noticed a blur of green beside him and turned to the side, where a big green dragon had her tail partially in the water. The dragon was winking tiredly and let out a yawn, but suddenly went completely awake as something was pulling her tail. A single fish was pulled out from the water along with her tail before the fish was put back into the water._

_“Hey, wait!” The dragon turned to Dylas, “Why did you lure it in if you’re gonna put it back?”_

_“Is that not how humans do it?” The dragon asked calmly, “I saw how you released the fish you caught by hand a few weeks ago.”_

_“It’s too small so I had to let it go,” Dylas responded, before noticing what the dragon had just said, “Wait, how the heck did you see me that time?”_

_“It is not important,” The dragon turned back to look at the water, “How you tried fishing moments ago seemed unique, albeit inefficient. Would you like me to teach you?”_

_Dylas looked at the dragon from head to toe, “How? You’re not even human.”_

_“So what if I’m not?” The dragon’s tone had completely changed, surprising Dylas. The dragon noticed the surprised look on his face and coughed, “Excuse me. If you desired so, I can teach you the proper method for fishing. I can tell you from what I have seen in other humans who do the same fishing activity.”_

_Dylas looked at the dragon doubtfully for a moment before shrugging, “Fine, you can try and teach me. Just not the same method that you did, because humans don’t have tails.”_

_The dragon’s serious expression changed into an annoyed one, “Fine, just… go get the materials I told you.”_

* * *

Another cry broke the silence in the room, but the three were ready to counter.

“Everyone, spread out!” Frey gave out the command and the three of them went to different sides of the room.

The shockwave couldn’t hit any of them as they were a bit too far from Thunderbolt, but the incoming wind cutters might hit Pico at the entrance of the room. Pico hovered to the side and landed a few kicks to the sides of the monster’s head, before she was tackled out of the way. Little did it notice that Pico was to cover Lest and Frey as they both charged in with a short sword.

The attacks hit and formed a cross-shaped scar wound on its chest before it slammed its front legs to create a shockwave to push the Earthmates back. The two landed on the ground safely and countered with their magic attacks. Lest tried pushing Thunderbolt back with some water lasers, but Frey’s explosion magic was more effective as a single shot had knocked it across the ground.

With a scar wound dealt on it, the three expected to see more of the dreams before Thunderbolt managed to stand back up. Much to their dismay, only a little of dark energy poured out from the wound and Thunderbolt was lying motionlessly on the ground. Lest had already expected another outcome after seeing the monster’s reaction, but Frey had expected otherwise.

Just as the green-haired Earthmate was approaching, Thunderbolt quickly went back to its feet before slamming Frey away and towards the wall. The hard impact had caused part of the wall to collapse on Frey, but Pico quickly teleported to her and out before they were buried under the pile of rocks.

Thunderbolt let out an ear-piercing cry before quickly charging at Lest, who was completely unguarded. Frey quickly got in the way before Lest could take the hit, sending her body to hit the ceiling. More of the cave walls started collapsing but Frey had managed to move away from the falling rocks.

“Lest! Its dark energy is increasing!” Frey told Lest through the cloud of dust formed from the falling rocks, “It’s absorbing the dark runes from this place!”

“Then we have to…” Lest let out a cough from inhaling some of the dust, “beat it quick…”

“Keep attacking it! Only your hits that actually effective!” Frey replied from the other side.

Before Lest could respond, Thunderbolt had come out from the cloud of dust to attack him with its powerful horse kicks. Lest blocked the kicks by stabbing his long sword in front of him until the impact had dug the sword out from the ground. A quick swing managed to put a long scar on the base of its neck, which was enough to let a lot of dark energy pour out.

* * *

_“Hey, Venti,” Dylas called out without taking his eyes off his fishing rod._

_“Huh?” Ventuswill shook her head awake, “Yes, did you catch something good?”_

_“Nah, I just want to ask you something,” Dylas looked at the tired dragon, “Are you sleeping enough?”_

_The dragon god turned to look at Dylas, “W-What do you mean?”_

_“You look more tired than usual. I know you don’t really like being patient in fishing, but-”_

_“Hey, I’m patient enough to fish!” Ventuswill’s protest had cut off Dylas in the middle of his sentence, “I’m just… Well, waiting for a fish to bite takes a while so I like taking a nap while waiting for one to come.”_

_Dylas looked at the dragon in disbelief before turning his attention back to his rod with a smirk, “That’s just the same meaning.”_

_“Shut up, you,” Ventuswill protested as she pulled her tail out from the water, “I’ll be leaving now anyway. Don’t stay out too late as well, Dylas.”_

_“Whatever,” Dylas was slightly smiling as Ventuswill took off in annoyance, but the smile soon turned into a frown, “I know your condition, Venti.”_

* * *

Another piercing cry was heard before the ground started shaking as Thunderbolt charged towards anyone standing near it. Pico could dodge Thunderbolt’s horn attacks by teleporting around while Lest and Frey simply gained some distance away from it. A barrage of wind cutters and a barrage of lasers were aimed at every direction in the cave as it went rampage and dark aura started to appear around its body.

“No good,” Frey shortly commented as she dodged the incoming wind cutters and lasers.

“Its attacks are getting stronger and faster,” Lest added before turning to Frey, “What’s the plan now?”

Frey shook her head, “Sorry, I’ve got nothing now… Watch out!”

Lest noticed his sister’s shocked look and turned to see that Thunderbolt was standing on its back legs behind him. Lest quickly rolled out of the way before countering with some fireballs, which barely had any effect on it. The horse monster charged quickly at Lest, leaving no opening for him to fight back.

Pico saw as Thunderbolt was running around trying to stab either Frey or Lest using its horn before an idea struck her, “Leave it to me!”

Pico quickly hovered towards Thunderbolt, but sat on the monster’s back instead of attacking it. She reached for its neck and hugged it tightly, preventing it from butting any of the Earthmates. Thunderbolt reacted with a loud cry before trying to push Pico off its back, leaving Lest and Frey an opening for the final strike.

“Lest, I’ll leave it to you,” Lest looked at his sister in confusion.

“Huh?”

“Did you forget already?” Frey turned her attention to the scars on the monster’s chest, where the scar from Frey’s side was bigger and deeper than Lest’s, “No matter how I attack it, I can’t make the monster to pour out the dark energy within. Only yours can.”

Lest looked back at the time when his slashes had caused dark energy to pour out from Ambrosia and Thunderbolt, but Frey’s couldn’t. He switched to his dual blades and took a deep breath before charging towards Thunderbolt, which had managed to knock Pico off its back. The distance between them was too close for Thunderbolt to duck down and butt him, leaving his chest open for Lest’s combination strike with his dual blades.

* * *

_“Tell me,” A young man with short light green hair spoke up in front of Dylas in the heart of ruins, “Why did you choose this path? You may be Lady Ventuswill’s closest friend, but why did you choose to leave?”_

_“You want to know my answer?” Dylas looked at the young man with a serious look before turning his back at him, “Because she’s a friend, that’s all. I don’t think this as a mission or a silly bet, but just a trip. A fishing trip away from the kingdom and in my dreams.”_

_“You can still run away. You have more than plenty of chances to do so,” The young man added._

_Dylas shook his head, “I like this era. I enjoy hanging out with the people here. But staying here would be betraying myself, because I wanted to save her. I want to save my friend.”_

_The young man nodded in understanding, “If that is your decision, I take it that you will not regret it in the future?”_

_Dylas let out a small laugh, “I trust you that you and your family won’t make me regret this. Just do your thing and I’ll be fine.”_

_“Very well, young man.”_

_“Dylas.”_

_“Hm?”_

_Dylas looked at the young man over his shoulder, “That’s my name. I want you to call me that.”_

_The young man nodded, “Dylas, the third Guardian. You will have my word that your dear friend will be saved.”_

_Dylas turned away once more, “Thanks.”_

* * *

The monster let out a pained groan as its body glowed and formed the familiar human figure. The other two approached them as the blue-haired Guardian slowly opened his eyes and looked around.

“Where…?” Dylas asked weakly.

“Somewhere under Sechs’ territory,” Frey replied as she knelt down beside him, “We can’t explain anything now, but I’ll let you know that it may be too dangerous for you to leave this place in your current condition.”

Dylas slowly sat up, “Well, my body feels too stiff to be moving around anyway,” Dylas noticed that Lest was looking at him, “What?”

“Were you just dreaming of Venti?” Lest’s question had surprised the Guardian, who gave him a nod.

“Yeah, but how did you know?” Dylas asked in confusion.

“Just a guess,” Lest replied with a smile.

Dylas let out a chuckle, “Yeah, I do dream about the past every now and then, but…” Dylas looked at the three with a smile, “I don’t mind being in this era. I’m done with the past.”

“I see,” Frey nodded with a smile before helping Dylas back to his feet as well as standing up herself, “We’ll be going for now, but we’ll be sure to go back to fetch you Guardians when we’re finished here.”

Dylas nodded in understanding, “Right.”

Dylas saw the three leaving the room through a dark pathway before letting out a tired sigh. His mind slowly went white and found himself standing on his own in an empty space.

* * *

_“Hey, buddy,” A familiar voice called out to Dylas, “Ya feeling alright now?”_

_“Huh?” Dylas looked around the empty space until a horse-like monster came into sight, “Wait, I think I know you!”_

_“Well, duh! We met back then!” The monster responded, “Just not in a pretty nice situation though.”_

_“Why are you here?” Dylas asked._

_The monster let out a sigh, “Ain’t ya one heck of a guy who doesn’t like to chit-chat for a bit?”_

_Dylas growled angrily, “Hey, I asked you a question!”_

_“Fine, fine,” The monster looked at Dylas in guilt, “Sorry man, I didn’t wanna do what I did. I’m only here to apologize for hurting those new friends of yours. I guess I was kinda weak to go into the dark side.”_

_“Oh,” Dylas didn’t really know how to respond, as he himself never actually know what had happened, “Uh… so, are you going somewhere else after this?”_

_“The Forest of Beginnings,” The monster shortly replied._

_“Then I want you to give a message to two people,” Dylas requested, “Tell them that I said thanks.”_

_“Got it, buddy. And I know who you mean by ‘them’,” The monster replied, “Well, catch ya later!”_

_The monster slowly disappeared, leaving Dylas by himself in the empty space._

_“Later, old friend.”_


	27. Family

“Lest. Pico. Can I talk to you for a bit?” Frey suddenly asked, prompting the two to stop in their tracks.

“Me too?” Pico looked at the female Earthmate in confusion.

Frey gave her a nod and looked at both of them, “I guess you two know what I’m going to ask, especially after knowing what happened to Amber and Dylas.”

“Don’t worry,” Lest replied with a serious look, “We’re going to fight Dolly in her monster form, so you don’t have to worry about me hesitating to fight.”

“Same here,” Pico nodded in agreement, “My dark magic might not work well here, but I’ll do my best!”

“That’s good, because we’re running out of time,” Frey looked at the clouds of dark energy on the ceiling, “The corrupted rune level is getting higher and higher.”

“Let’s go then,” Pico and Frey nodded before the three of them started running, only stopping once they found themselves in a room made of mossy rocks.

The room’s interior was different from the cave as the walls looked like it was made of concrete blocks. Some broken rock pillars were scattered around the room, making it more like ruins. The corrupted runes had formed thin dark fog in the room, turning down the visibility in the room.

“Are we… still in the cave?” Pico asked as she looked around the room, “It feels so different in here.”

“Maybe not,” Frey replied as she looked around cautiously, “But I have a bad feeling about this place.”

“You are finally here,” a familiar voice echoed in the room.

“Huh? That voice…” Lest recognized the voice and looked around for the source.

“Dolly? Is that you?” Pico asked in excitement.

“Yes,” the voice replied as a familiar figure walked closer to them, revealing to be their lost family member, “I am right here.”

“D-Dolly? Is that… is that really you?” Lest approached her in disbelief, but stopped when he saw her glowing red eyes.

“Yes, I am your ‘Dolly’,” the figure swung her hand and talismans came flying towards Lest. The Earthmate stood frozen in place, letting one of them to scratch his cheek, “I am your Dolly by looks, but not by my mind.”

“Are you the one controlling her body?” Frey asked while pointing her spear at her.

“It seems like there is a much clever Earthmate than this woman’s husband,” the figure replied with a glare, “And please, just call me Marionetta.”

“If a fight’s what you want,” Frey held on to her spear angrily, “then that’s what you’re going to get! Nobody is allowed to hurt my dear brother!”

Marionetta simply shrugged and shook her head, “Are you certain that those two are ready for one?”

Frey looked at Lest and Pico, who was clearly hesitant in fighting, “W-What is it? Why don’t you have your weapons ready?”

There was a short silence before Lest answered, “I… can’t… I can’t hurt her…”

“Yeah,” Pico nodded in agreement, “Even though she isn’t Dolly, I can’t fight her when she looks just like her…”

Frey lowered her head before stepping in front of the hesitant fighters, “Fine, be like that. Just stand there and don’t do anything,” Frey looked at Marionetta with an angry glare, “I’ll handle her myself.”

An angry fighting yell broke the silence in the room as Frey charged in with her spear, only to have Marionetta swiftly dodge the attack by moving to the side. The monster in disguise sent out a barrage of dark balls to knock Frey back before she threw more talismans at her. The flying scraps of paper managed to be sent all over the room from Frey’s spear spinning, just in time before they could hit her.

Switching her spear to her left hand, Frey charged in once more with her fist straight at the monster’s face. Marionetta effortlessly caught the Earthmate’s fist her hand before slightly moving Frey out of her way. The blunt side of Frey’s spear managed to be blocked easily before another barrage of dark balls knocked the female Earthmate back and towards the ground.

Lest silently watched his sister fighting on her own, but he could see that her style of fighting was out of her usual rhythm. It was the main reason why her attacks could easily be dodged and blocked by the monster. Her visible anger had blinded her awareness, making the female Earthmate completely vulnerable to counter attacks.

“HAAAA!!!” Frey slammed her hammer to try and squash Marionetta, only missing its target and created a small crater on the ground instead.

Just then, Lest felt like something had stabbed him in the chest, “Ugh…”

_“Lest?”_ Pico looked at the Earthmate in confusion, _“What’s wrong?”_

“I’m fine, it’s just…” Lest kept on holding his chest where he felt the pain moments ago, “It’s just that there’s a strange feeling that something stabbed me…”

Pico looked at the hurting Earthmate, but found no wounds anywhere on him other than the ones he got from the previous battles, _“Other than the injuries from those two fights, I don’t see anything wrong.”_

“Stop!” an angry yell coming from Frey had gained the attention of the two, “Stop hurting my brother! Snap out of it!”

The words echoed within Lest’s mind, feeling as if he had heard similar words many years before. His mind tried digging through the old memories as he tried remembering when and where he had heard the words before. Images of boys hitting him with sticks and branches suddenly came into him along with echoes of laughter, but the next thing he heard in his head was the words he had been looking for.

_“Stop hurting him! He is my dear brother!”_

Frey was sitting on the ground, watching as Marionetta approached her with a levitating rock behind her. She braced herself as the monster sent the rock flying towards her, only to notice that the impact never actually came. She opened her eyes to see Lest standing in front of her, holding the hammer she had left planted on the crater, with dozens of rock pieces surrounding him.

“I want to repay the favor,” Lest spoke up without turning his head around, “I felt wanting to do this for many years and waited for the chance to show itself.”

“Lest…” Frey stared at him in disbelief as he slowly lifted the hammer and swung the heavy weapon, knocking Marionetta to the side.

Lest turned to look at Frey with a frown, “Sorry, I… I can’t help much when she looks just like my wife.”

Frey continued to stare at him before letting out a sigh and smiled, “That’s okay,” Frey slowly rose to her feet, “I got carried away and forced you into this, but that’s more or less the only option I have.”

“What’s the plan now?” Lest asked as he noticed that Marionetta was still down, “I don’t think I can attack her like that when I can clearly see her face.”

“I’ll distract her,” Frey replied while having her spear back into her right hand, “I’ll tell you when and where to strike with your eyes closed, you don’t have to worry about visibly hurting her.”

“Got it,” Lest nodded in understanding before he noticed a spot of light coming from the place where he had hit her before, “Wait, is that…?” The light had quickly consumed the whole room before Lest could finish his sentence.

* * *

_“So,” a woman with curly pink hair looked down on Pico and a girl who looked like a younger version of Dolce, “Who put those eggs in your father’s hat?” the young Dolce pointed at Pico, who looked at her mother innocently, “Can you explain yourself, young lady?”_

“What eggs?” _Pico asked innocently,_ “I don’t remember putting eggs anywhere but the fridge, right Dolly?”

_The young Dolce turned to glare at Pico, “I-It was your idea!”_

“But hiding Mom’s knitting among Dad’s magic stuff is your idea!” _Pico gave her rebuttal, which only made the older woman more annoyed._

_“Girls,” the woman spoke up sternly, “Stop fighting and go to your room,” the woman turned to Dolce, “As for you Dolly, no dessert for you for a week.”_

_Dolce looked at her mother with her in disappointment, “Yes, Mom…”_

* * *

_‘It was… Dolly’s dream…’_ Lest thought as he noticed that Marionetta was slowly getting up, “Frey, she’s getting up.”

“Huh, this isn’t how it’s supposed to turn out,” Marionetta went back to her feet while watching the two Earthmates with a glare, “I suppose using my full power is next to be done in order to destroy you.”

The monster’s body was engulfed by dark energy before it transformed into its true form, a puppet-like monster. Dark fog started getting thicker in the room, making Frey fall to her knees while panting. Rocks and broken pillars started levitating and in a moment, the objects had completely surrounded the Earthmates.

Lest had his dual blades ready, but his target of attack had disappeared in the thick fog. Just then, a small pebble came towards his chest in high speed but he was able to block it with one of his swords. The fog soon became a bit thinner and enabled Lest to see a bit clearer, only to have him realize that a bunch of swords was sent at him.

The hazel-haired Earthmate jumped out of the way only to bump into his sister, who was still panting heavily, “Frey, are you okay?”

“I…” Frey spoke up between her panting, “I can’t… breathe… too much… darkness…”

“Hang in there!” Lest called out, before pushing her out from an incoming flying rock.

The dark fog had narrowed his area of vision, which forced Lest to rely on his other senses to dodge the incoming attacks. Lest raised his hand and blocked a series of kicks coming from the monster just in time, before he took the opportunity to strike with his sword. He pushed the monster away and the foggy room was soon covered in bright light.

* * *

_“Did you two get into another argument again?” the familiar voice echoed throughout an old castle building as the wind dragon looked down at the young woman in front of her._

_Dolce turned her eyes from the worried dragon god, “So? It’s not like you can do anything to help.”_

_Ventuswill let out a chuckle, “Perhaps not,” the wind dragon lowered her head to Dolce’s level, “These arguments usually don’t last longer than a few hours, correct?”_

_Dolce stayed silent for a moment before letting out a smile, “Yes, that’s true.”_

_“Besides, even families can get into arguments as well,” Ventuswill added, “Pico is a part of your family too, isn’t she?”_

_“Yes, but…” Dolce nodded, but a frown on her face was visible from Ventuswill’s sight, “No, never mind.”_

_Ventuswill looked at her, seeing that Dolce wasn’t telling her the whole story, “It’s fine if you don’t want to say it, but let me just tell you one thing,” Dolce looked up at the dragon, “You’ve done what you can to make her feel like she’s a part of your family. Given enough time, she would see for herself that family isn’t always connected by blood.”_

_“Venti…” Dolce looked at Ventuswill in disbelief, feeling as if the dragon had just read her mind, “How did you…?”_

_Ventuswill let out a laugh, “It’s a secret!”_

_Dolce let out a smile, “Seriously…”_

* * *

The vision disappeared, and Lest was ready to counter or attack with his dual blades. The fog had started to disappear and his area of vision was enough to check his surrounding completely. Even so, he could see that the monster was nowhere to be found. Little did he notice that the puppet monster was hovering right above his head, ready for a sneak attack.

Marionetta dropped itself on top of Lest, but a dark ball was there to push the monster away from him. Lest noticed that the monster was knocked away from above his head and turned to find the location of his savior, finding Pico a few meters away from him, “Pico…?”

_“I’m sorry, Dolly,”_ the ghost whispered, _“Please… don’t make me hurt you again…”_

The monster quickly got up and charged at Pico, only to be knocked away by a water laser spell. Frey, who was clutching her chest on one hand, had fired the spell just in time before she forced herself to stand firmly, “Sorry to burden you two.”

“No problem,” Lest switched his dual blades for a short sword and a shield, “Come on, this battle isn’t over yet!”

Frey gave Lest a nod, before charging at Marionetta along with him. A wooden box was sent at the Earthmates as they got closer, but Lest was too late to move out of the way and got trapped in the box. Frey, who noticed that her brother was in danger, kept on charging at the monster and kicked it back, using the force from the kick to send herself back to where the box was.

Frey hit the box with her hammer, destroying it to pieces, but also sending Lest flying to the side. The male Earthmate wasn’t too injured that he could kick himself and went back to where the monster was with his sword ready. The sword met a few others as Marionetta had sent a few flying at him, but they were easily blocked as Lest closed the distance between them.

A single powerful slash was enough to knock the puppet monster to the side. Along with the dark energy which had started pouring out, a spot of light was also visible before it covered the whole room once again.

* * *

_“What are you making this time?” Ventuswill asked, looking at the knitting woman beside her._

“Dolly said that she was going to make me-” _The ghost girl beside Dolce was the first to answer, before a talisman sealed her mouth shut._

_“You say too much,” Dolce continued with her knitting, gaining the dragon’s interest._

_“Hey, how about you make me something next time?” Ventuswill offered, but her offer met a blank stare from the woman, “W-What?”_

_Dolce let out a sigh, “If I’m going to make you something, I need extra materials to do so. I doubt you can get what I need in your current condition.”_

_“Hey!” Ventuswill spread her wings in pride, “These wings can take me anywhere I need! Never underestimate the power of the Native Dragons!”_

_“Except you can’t leave town,” Dolce shot the dragon’s argument with ease without taking her eyes of her craft._

_“Y-Yeah, but I have a workaround for that!” Ventuswill desperately tried to defend her argument, but another look at Dolce’s eyes told her that the woman was right._

_Pico, who had recovered from the talisman attack, let out a laugh,_ “That’s my Dolly! You can’t win an argument with milady!”

_“That includes you too, Pico,” Dolce didn’t turn her eyes away to look at the embarrassed Pico, until she suddenly stopped her knitting completely and looked at the dragon in worry, “By the way, are you feeling okay?”_

_“Huh?” Ventuswill looked at her nervously, “What do you mean?”_

_“I’m not sure,” Dolce replied, “I felt like I need to ask you that question.”_

_Ventuswill looked at her silently before letting out a sigh, “I’m just a little tired lately, but that isn’t a big problem.”_

_“I see,” Dolce was still unconvinced, but she knew that she wouldn’t get anything out of her even if she pressed the issue even further._

* * *

An angry growl echoed in the room as it slightly shook, prompting Lest and Frey to be ready for more powerful attacks aimed at them. Lest was ready with his short sword and shield while Frey was ready with her hammer and gloves. Pico, on the other hand, stayed a bit farther from the battle area and provided emergency support in case of another surprise attack.

Rocks and pillars started levitating once more, but they were all moving quickly in order to have them hit the Earthmates randomly. The two Earthmates stood back-to-back with Frey destroying the rocks and pillars coming at them using her hammer and Lest blocked the smaller pebbles with his shield.

Seeing as the rocks couldn’t scratch them, Marionetta decided to bury them alive with a bunch of dolls. Pico had destroyed some of the dolls using her dark balls, leaving the pieces of the dolls completely harmless to the Earthmates. With their vision covered by the destroyed dolls’ stuffing, the monster could easily grab the two of them and throw them across the room.

Frey was quick enough to react and grabbed Lest, pushing him back towards the monster with his sword ready. The angered monster couldn’t react fast enough at the incoming Earthmate, letting another slash to connect with its body. Frey managed to land safely a few steps away from the wall while Lest had landed safely on the other side of the room, with the defeated monster lying on the ground. The monster turned back into Dolce, who was still unconscious, before they were all covered in bright light once more.

* * *

_Dolce stood in front of two people, with one being Pico and the other one was a woman with short dark green hair. The woman saw the determination on Dolce’s eyes before speaking up, “I take it your decision is final?”_

_Dolce nodded, “Yes.”_

_“What about your parents?” The woman asked once more._

_Dolce turned to look at Pico, who looked like she was about to cry, “I’ve told them. They were against it at first, but they finally let me do it.”_

“Isn’t there another way, Dolly?” _Pico asked sadly,_ “Ven is my friend too, so I can do it in your place!”

_Dolce turned to look at the woman, who nodded in agreement, “True, only those who have strong bonds with her can be turned into a Guardian. But, it only applies to humans only.”_

_“You’re a ghost, Pico,” Dolce added, “You can’t be a Guardian. It must be me,” Dolce turned to look at the woman, “I’m ready.”_

_“Before that, let me ask you one final question,” the woman spoke up, “That dragon is your best friend, but is she worth very much to you to sacrifice your remaining time with your family?”_

_“That’s a silly question,” Dolce let out a sad smile, “Venti is my family too. I’m doing this to save my family as well.”_

_Seeing as her persuasion wouldn’t change Dolce’s mind, the woman nodded, “Very well. I shall grant you your wish and I shall promise you that my family will find a way to save her.”_

* * *

“Uh…” the female Guardian was slowly waking up on Lest’s lap, with Frey and Pico also watching, “This is…?”

_“DOLLY!!!”_ Pico had tackled the barely conscious woman, _“I missed you so much, Dolly!”_

Lest slowly helped Dolce to sit up, “How are you feeling?”

There was a short pause before Dolce replied, “Fine, I guess…” Dolce looked at him from the corner of her eye before turning away, “I’m sorry…”

Lest let out a smile before pulling her into a hug, “Don’t worry, I forgive you.”

“No,” Dolce slightly pushed herself away from the hug, “I left you and I hurt you. I don’t deserve this…”

“Dolly,” Lest called out calmly, “Please, just look at me,” the Guardian reluctantly did as she was told and saw that her husband was smiling at her, “I’m fine, so don’t be so hard on yourself.”

Dolce noticed the scratch on Lest’s cheek and let out a chuckle, “No, sweetie. You’re not all fine,” Lest looked at her in confusion as she took out a band aid and applied it on his scar, “There, now you’re fine.”

“Thanks,” Lest helped Dolce to her feet before taking out a black top hat, “Here, I believe this is yours.”

Dolce took the hat and put it back on her head, “This was a gift from Dad. Thank you for keeping it safe.”

Frey coughed and got the attention of the couple, “Sorry to bother you two, but I think we should get going now.”

“Right,” Lest responded with a nod before turning back to Dolce, “I’ll be back, Dolly. Stay here, okay?”

Dolce nodded in understanding before Pico went to her side, _“I’m staying here with Dolly, so I hope you won’t get in too much trouble when I’m not around!”_

“We won’t,” Lest replied before walking towards Frey, “Come on, let’s go.”

Dolce and Pico saw the two Earthmates left the room before their mind went white with a familiar figure standing in front of them.

* * *

_“It’s you again,” Dolce spoke up to the puppet-like monster in front of her._

_“Yes,” the monster spoke up softly, “For that, I apologize.”_

“A simple apologize isn’t enough to fix everything! You’ve hurt not just Dolly but-” _Pico was stopped in the middle of her ranting when Dolce put a hand in front of her._

_“I believe you have your reasons,” Dolce spoke up calmly, “so tell us why you did it.”_

_“My apologies,” the monster apologized, “Monsters like me are very sensitive to the changes within runes, so the corruption easily got the better of us. Other than that…”_

_“There’s more?” Dolce pressed further, “Tell us what you know.”_

_“That other woman… I sensed similar rune energy as the one running within us,” Marionetta continued, “yet I sensed no evil intent within her.”_

_“I understand,” Dolce’s voice had turned into a whisper as she looked at the monster, “Now what are you planning to do?”_

_The puppet monster shook its head, “Nothing else which would be considered harmful to this world. In other words, I shall leave this world and back towards the forest,” the monster’s body was slowly disappearing, “Human… no, Dolce. I shall bid you farewell.”_

_The two females watched as the monster disappeared in front of them, leaving the two of them in the empty space._

_“Farewell, Marionetta…”_


	28. Priest and Dragon

The two Earthmates climbed several sets of stairs in the darkness of the room, until some light shone on the final set of stairs. The room above was bright from the chandelier hanging on the ceiling with the walls made of golden-colored concrete blocks. The room was almost like it was recently made as no cracks were seen on the walls and the pillars were still in one piece.

“It’s bright in here,” Lest commented as he looked around the room, “It feels like a place I’ve been before…”

“Don’t let your guard down,” Frey warned as she had her hammer on her side, “The level of dark rune energy here is a lot higher than when we’re underground.”

“I know,” Lest held his long sword with both of his hands, “The last one we’re going to fight should be Leon’s monster form, Sarcophagus.”

Flames suddenly appeared from under their feet, prompting them to move away from their spot to avoid burning. The two Earthmates landed on opposite areas, completely unaware of the incoming magic attacks from their backs. Waves of ice had appeared behind Frey while a series of rock pillars approached Lest from behind, hitting them at the same time.

“I… I didn’t sense anyone coming behind us…” Frey winced in pain as she tried getting up, but a hard surface quickly made contact with her face and knocked her back to the ground.

“Be careful! Sarcophagus can teleport and it can use all types of offensive magic!” Lest warned as he cautiously got up, barely dodging a light laser coming towards him.

The coffin-like monster teleported behind Lest and charged to ram him, but Lest was quick enough to move out of the way. He swung his sword as the monster passed him, but the speed of the swing wasn’t quick enough to land a hit. Sarcophagus stopped in its way and turned, sending small missiles towards Lest and Frey. Even with quick dodging, the missiles kept on following them around which made them completely distracted while the monster prepared for another attack.

The chandelier started raining burning rocks down, making the two Earthmates harder to dodge any of the attacks. A few missiles managed to hit Lest while Frey got hit by the burning rocks while avoiding the missiles. With the rocks and the missiles gone, the monster appeared right beside Frey and knocked both Earthmates down with a hard tackle.

Lest, while still down on the ground, managed to create several light balls around both of them. Frey tried luring the monster to charge at them once more, which proved to be successful when the monster came charging at her. She ran towards Lest and quickly turned a few meters in front of Lest, letting the male Earthmate to send explosive fireballs at it.

The fireballs managed to stop Sarcophagus’ advance before Lest continued his attack with a hard strike using his fists and kicking it to the side. The monster helplessly landed hard on the ground and rolled away before some light came from the spot where Lest had hit it before.

* * *

_“What is it now?” a young Leon folded his hands as he looked at the crying girl in front of him, “Are you bullied again, Maria?”_

_The girl nodded, “Yes…”_

_Leon let out a chuckle and walked passed her, but not before he put a hand on her head, “Don’t worry, I know what to do with them this time.”_

_“B-But…” Maria said between her sobs, “If you get into a fight again… you can’t become a dragon priest!”_

_“Nah,” Leon simply shrugged as he patted Maria’s head, “It’ll be more fun to give them a special present instead,” Leon removed his hand from her head as she turned to look at him, “Stop crying, okay? I promise you that you’ll have something entertaining to watch.”_

_Maria rubbed her tears from her eyes and nodded, “Yes, I promise!”_

* * *

Another burst of fire covered Lest’s vision as Sarcophagus teleported away and reappeared behind him with more missiles coming at him. Frey ran behind Lest in time that the missiles hit her instead, creating small clouds of dust as the attacks hit her body. The impact of the attacks sent Frey a few meters back, but her master cure spell managed to heal most of her injuries from the attacks.

Lest countered the fire wall with his water laser spell as the laser went through the wall and hit the monster. Frey followed up with her hammer and knocked the coffin monster far enough to buy time for Lest to cast more spells. The monster managed to stop itself from hitting the ground and teleported in front of Lest, much to their dismay.

Lest was knocked off his feet and to the ground before Sarcophagus turned to attack Frey, who had stabbed it with her spear. She pulled her spear out and kicked it back before sending out some wind cutters to knock it back even farther. The monster was sent to Lest’s direction, leaving him to use his shield to halt its advance before giving it an easy slash as he pushed the coffin monster off his shield. The impact managed to send the monster towards the wall, but not strong enough to create a crack on the wall.

Bright light came out from the wound along with the dark energy before the Earthmates were swallowed by the light.

* * *

_“I’m your dragon priest now, right?” Leon asked as he looked up at the green dragon in front of him, “What should I do for you, oh my good lord?”_

_Ventuswill stared at him for a moment before looking at the other people standing beside her, “Is he truly the dragon priest chosen for this age?”_

_“That is correct, Lady Ventuswill,” One of the people answered, “He had passed all of the qualifications without any difficulties.”_

_“I see…” Ventuswill turned back to look at Leon with uncertainty in her eyes._

_“Hm…” Leon studied Ventuswill’s body before he let out a sly smile, “You look a bit small for an old dragon.”_

_“H-Hey!” Ventuswill lowered her head to his level in annoyance, “A few hundred years is a young age for a dragon, you know! And it’s rude to call a lady ‘old’ too!”_

_“I’m very sorry milady,” Leon apologized with a smirk on his face, “I still have a lot to learn to be a proper dragon priest serving you…”_

_Ventuswill could tell that Leon’s apologize wasn’t sincere at all and more like teasing her even more in front of the other priests in the room. She could hear the other priests laughing before she let out a sigh, “Fine, just do what you’re supposed to do.”_

* * *

The light disappeared along with the monster as it was missing from the side of the wall where it had been pushed to. A barrage of wind cutters went into various directions before the coffin monster teleported in the middle of the room and began shooting the Earthmates with lasers. The attacks managed to slow them down enough for Sarcophagus to ram them to the wall.

Lest fell to the ground near the wall while Frey managed to kick herself against the wall and hit the monster by rolling in the air and swinging her hammer. The female Earthmate landed in the middle of the room with the monster knocked back to the other side of the wall, only to disappear moments later with burning rocks raining on them once more.

The ground was moving before several rock spikes came out from the ground, narrowing the Earthmates’ area of movement. Escaping the attacks with a few minor scratches and burns, the coffin monster reappeared with more missiles than before and sent them towards the two. Frey tried blocking the attack only using her gigantic hammer, but Lest quickly went in front of her and blocked the attacks with his shield instead. The missiles hit the metal plate and the area around Lest, creating a small smokescreen.

With the smokescreen limiting the three’s vision, Lest could only rely on his instinct as he walked slowly within the smokescreen with his short sword ready to strike. A non-human shadow soon came into his view and he dashed towards it, positioning his sword to stab the figure. The attack hit its target and Lest elbowed the monster off his sword before the room was consumed with bright light.

* * *

_“And that’s all to report today,” Leon rolled the scroll he was holding and the view of a sleeping dragon in front of him became visible, “And here I am, being dutiful serving a sleeping god.”_

_Leon’s mocking laugh managed to wake the Native Dragon before she raised her head high above, “Y-Yes, thank you for the report!” Ventuswill stared at the dragon priest for a moment as he looked at her with a sly grin, “What was that again?”_

_“Sorry, but I don’t think I can repeat that,” Leon spoke up calmly, “I thought it’s written that my duty is to report to you once a day. If I repeat the report it would be reporting to you twice today.”_

_“Excuse for being tired living as a god!” Ventuswill half-shouted, earning a chuckle from Leon, “W-What?”_

_“Of course, you’re busy,” Leon gave her his usual sly grin, “The temple caretaker had to wake you every hour because you’re too busy taking naps.”_

_Ventuwill let out a defeated sigh, knowing completely petty arguments with him would be endless if she kept trying to defend herself, “Well, it’s already this late now. Isn’t Maria supposed to be waiting for you to go home together?”_

_“No, not tonight,” a serious look was visible on his face, “I’m going to meet someone tonight, so I told her to go home on her own.”_

_“I see… So that’s why she looked so depressed today,” Ventuswill added, getting a nod from Leon._

_“Yeah, but she’ll be fine tomorrow,” Leon turned to leave the room, but stopped once he was at the door, “Rest well, Venti. And take care.”_

_“Yes?” Ventuswill was confused with the dragon priest’s words as she saw him leaving, “That was… unusual of him…”_

* * *

The smokescreen created from the previous attack was blown away easily before the monster tackled its attacker hard, sending him straight to the wall. The impact had caused part of the wall to be cracked as Lest fell from the small crater with the shape of his body and hit the ground with a thud.

“Lest!” Frey ran to her brother’s side and healed his injured back, “Hang in there!”

“I’m… fine…” the light from the healing spell faded as Lest slowly sat up and held on to Frey’s shoulder for support as he tried getting back to his feet, “It’s getting much stronger now.”

“Yeah,” Frey nodded as she stood beside him, “The high level of corrupted runes is making it grow stronger as it takes more hits. Leon’s body won’t be able to hold all that dark energy for much longer.”

“Yeah, I know,” Lest and Frey jumped to opposite directions to dodge Sarcophagus’ deadly tackle, “We need a plan, and fast!”

“Just hit and dodge!” Frey jumped to the side to dodge a wave of ice coming at her, “It’s the best option we have with our exhausted condition!”

Lest nodded before he narrowly dodged a rock spike coming at him and cut the rest of the incoming spikes with his long sword. He left the long sword planted at the end of the rock spikes and charged with his short sword in hand. The sword could barely reach the monster’s side as it charged at him as well, leaving Frey open to attack with her hammer.

The speed of Sarcophagus’ movement made Frey’s hammer miss its target and hit the ground instead, creating a small crater on impact. The female Earthmate pushed herself forward for a full air flip and landed in front of the crater to pull her hammer out of it and swing the coffin monster appearing in front of her.

Just as the monster was going to fall face first, Lest had made a small rock pillar to push its face and threw it backwards. Lest had landed a punch as the monster was falling backwards, but the attack hardly caused any damage as the monster countered with more missiles. The projectiles were quickly blocked by his shield, but the strong impact managed to create more smokescreen as Lest was pushed back.

The push gave Lest a bit of advantage as the monster couldn’t see that he was pushed back towards the place where he left his long sword, turning the impact as a force strong enough to pull the sword out. He ran as fast as he could and landed the final blow on Sarcophagus while blowing away the created smokescreen.

The final light filled the room as more of Leon’s dreams came into the Earthmates’ minds.

* * *

_“Leon,” an old man with a mix of green and white hair called out to Leon, who was looking up at the sky, “You may have been the person I have been searching for, but I will not force you to do it.”_

_“I’m not forced to do this,” Leon replied without taking his eyes away from the night sky, “I’m not doing this just as the duty of a dragon priest. I’m doing this to save her. It is my job to protect Venti, like a Guardian.”_

_“Yes, but given the time needed…”_

_“There’s not much time left,” Leon cut off the old man’s sentence as he turned to look at him, “You, an Earthmate, also knows that much.”_

_“Correct,” the old man nodded, “Before I can cast that spell on you, do you have any unfinished businesses?”_

_“I have a lot of them,” Leon let out a sad smile, “But we’re running out of time. This is all I can offer to help her and I hope that there will be someone else who are able to truly save her.”_

_The old man looked at Leon, “I can see that you will never change your mind on this decision.”_

_“Yes,” Leon looked at the old man with a smile, “So please, save Venti.”_

_“Very well,” the old man nodded and Leon saw as the old man was preparing for the spell, a familiar figure was watching them from behind the wall, listening to their conversation._

‘I’m sorry, Maria…’

* * *

Leon slowly opened his eyes and saw the two Earthmates watching him, “What… happened?”

“It’s a long story,” Lest replied as he helped the Guardian get back to his feet.

“And we don’t have much time to talk about it now,” Frey added, getting a surprised look from Lest.

“What do you mean? We’ve got all of the Guardians back, right?” Lest asked, leaving Leon confused with the unknown topic.

“It’s not over yet… huh?” Frey felt something heavy on her head and noticed that Leon was petting her and Lest on the heads, “What… are you doing?”

“Giving you your well-deserved reward,” Leon replied casually as he smiled.

“Why did you pet us, though?” Lest asked as he tried removing Leon’s hand from his head.

“I just felt like doing it,” Leon removed his hand and stopped himself from ruffling the Earthmates’ hair even more, “So, what’s next?”

“You should stay here and let Lest and I take care of the rest. It’s too dangerous to wander around here aimlessly in your condition,” Frey turned to Lest, “Come on, we should get going. There should be one more person left waiting for us.”

Leon saw the two Earthmates leave the room before his mind went white, feeling as if he was standing alone in an empty space.

* * *

_“Your Holiness,” a voice called out before it revealed itself to be the coffin-like monster, “For all the trouble I have caused using your body, I owe you my sincerest apology.”_

_“Just call me by name, okay?” Leon responded, “That title no longer exists in this era.”_

_“Leon,” the monster called out, “I can feel that sadness and regret deep within your heart. Is that girl precious to you?”_

_“Maria…” Leon whispered before giving a nod as a reply, “Yes, and I broke my promise with her when I became a Guardian in front of her.”_

_“You are not the only one,” the monster continued as Leon looked at the monster in confusion, “Before I came back to this world a little while ago, she asked me to give you a message.”_

_“A message?” Leon asked, “Please tell me everything.”_

_“She said that she wasn’t lonely anymore,” Leon’s eyes grew wide in surprise, “The moment she saw you become a Guardian, she never knew how long she needed to wait for your return. She had to break her promises, because she understood why those promises were made. You wanted her to be happy.”_

_“She… said that?” Leon looked at the coffin monster in disbelief._

_“Yes,” the monster responded, “She also never cried in sadness anymore. The only tears she shed were tears of joy. She wanted to thank you for all the things you had done for her in the past and hoped that you would live your new life happily without burdening yourself with those promises.”_

_“That’s… that’s just like her…” a single tear escaped from Leon’s eye, “Pass me a message to her as well. Tell her that I’m also grateful to have known her.”_

_“You have my word,” the monster replied before it disappeared from the Guardian’s view._

_“Thank you, Maria… I’m… really glad…”_


	29. Family and Duty

“Frey, wait!” the female Earthmate stopped in her tracks, but she didn’t bother turning around to face Lest, “Haven’t we finished what we’re here for? To take the Guardians back?”

“No, not yet,” Frey turned to look at Lest with a serious look on her face, “Don’t you remember what the letter said? Whoever sent that letter wanted both of us to come in exchange for those four.”

“But we’re lucky enough to fall into that cave and get them before we encounter the real enemy, right?” Lest’s persuasion didn’t leave any effect on the green-haired Earthmate as she shook her head.

“I have the feeling that we’re being set up,” Frey spoke up, surprising Lest, “If you recall correctly, we’re going in a one-way path since we fell until we reach this exact spot.”

“That… that can’t be true, right?” Lest was still left unconvinced, “I mean, the Sechs should be in better terms with us after Ethelberd is gone…”

“They should be,” Frey responded sternly, “But Kane mentioned that Ethelberd’s son, the current emperor, might be the one pulling the strings behind this mess,” Frey took a deep breath as Lest kept his attention on her, “In other words, we’re going against our own sibling as well. We’re going to fight him to stop him.”

Lest stayed silent for a moment before shaking his head, “No, this isn’t what I’m here for. Settling things between Selphia and Sechs isn’t actually my job because I’m just the acting prince.”

“Are you afraid of facing your own family again?” Frey’s voice turned down into a whisper, but in her eyes she was clearly disappointed, “Are you abandoning your duty because of family?”

“No, because I can’t charge into a possibly dangerous situation for no clear reason,” Lest rebutted, “I have a family to return to now. I’m no longer on my own because I have a family to take care of.”

“What about me? I’m still your family too!” Frey suddenly raised her voice, surprising both of them, “S-Sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“No, I’m sorry,” Lest let out a sigh, “It’s just that seeing the Guardian’s dreams like that makes me think about how they felt when something happens to me instead. I never actually thought about it that much before, but those dreams were so real that I could almost feel the emotions…”

Frey looked at Lest for a moment before smiling, “I see that you’re still you. The same old Lest from back then too think about others that much.”

“I think that forgetting the past doesn’t include forgetting who you really are,” Lest added as he smiled as well, “Should we get going to see the person behind all this mess?”

Frey nodded in agreement, “Yeah.”

The two Earthmates continued their path through the empty silver and golden halls, looking around for any signs of life around them. The forks in their paths were blocked until they left a single path open, as if someone had purposely led them to take the unblocked path. At the end of the path, a huge metal door stood firmly in front of them.

“I can feel it,” Frey let out a whisper, but still loud enough for Lest to hear her.

“Is that person in there?” Lest asked, getting a nod from Frey.

“Yes, and the flow of corrupted runes ended this way,” Frey put her hands on the door and turned to Lest, “Are you sure you’re ready, Lest?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lest put his hands on the door as well, “I’ve fought Ethelberd without knowing that he’s my biological father. I know that I can handle fighting the sibling I never know of.”

“Let’s do it then,” the two Earthmates pushed the door open, revealing the throne room on the other side of the door.

The sound of clapping was heard as a figure stood up under the shadows on the throne, “You have finally made it, Earthmates.”

“From the way you’re speaking, I think you’re the one we’re after,” Frey looked up at the figure as he walked down the stairs.

“Yes, I am looking forward to this fateful encounter,” a man with long teal hair stood in front of them with an evil smile on his face, “I am Halwell, the current ruler of the Sechs Empire!”

“What do you want with us?” Lest was holding on to the hilts of his blades as he looked at Halwell, “What did you do to the Guardians?”

“It was quite a simple trick,” the emperor folded his arms proudly, “I just used those monsters to corrupt their minds to lure both of you here. That, I did, for one purpose only,” Halwell slowly unsheathed his sword, pointing it at Lest and Frey, “That is, to take the lives of the remaining Earthmates breathing in this land!”

_‘He sounds just like him…’_ Lest thought as he hesitantly took out his blades, “Frey, is this the only way? He may be evil, but he’s still just human.”

“Did you forget already?” Frey took out her spear, “You fought Ethelberd even though he was still human, correct?” Frey turned to see that Lest had nodded, “Consider this the same as before. Fighting an unknown family to save your true family. To save Lady Ventuswill and return home safely.”

“Yes, but there’s something different now than before,” Lest stepped forward, giving Frey a smile, “I have my family here too, fighting side by side with me.”

Frey was stunned at first, but then smiled before turning back to their opponent, “True. This is the battle against family, to carry on our duties to our true family!”

The two Earthmates charged in with their weapons as the images of the Guardians flashed in their minds, waiting for their safe return. The sounds of blades clashing against each other were heard echoing throughout the throne room, with no one present to watch the fierce battle between the Earthmates and the corrupted emperor.

* * *

Ventuswill was lying weakly in the dragon room as Volkanon paced back and forth in worry. Jones and Nancy were in the room to try and tend the weakened dragon god, but their efforts had been all for naught. Ventuswill had no external injuries, but her expression clearly showed how much she was in pain.

“This is all we can do for her, unfortunately,” Jones spoke up as he looked at the suffering dragon, “Just as Frey told us yesterday, she cannot fully recover unless the corrupted runes within her body are removed.”

The butler cried after hearing the news, “S-So… is there anything else we can do to help Lady Ventuswill?”

Nancy shook her head, making the butler cry harder, “I’m afraid not…”

Ventuswill was awake as the three of them were talking, but the pain all over her body had completely removed her focus on trying to make up what the people were saying. Her weak movements were unnoticed by the three as she tried moving around to find a position she felt to be less painful to be in. Even with the pain all over her body, one thought made her strong enough to keep herself conscious.

_‘Lest… Frey… I know you can do it…’_

* * *

“Ha!” Halwell easily knocked Lest’s blades to the side, leaving him wide open.

Halwell swung his sword upward and down towards Lest, but Frey was there to intercept with her spear. The two fighters tried moving around their weapons to find an opening, but doing so had given Lest enough time to recover and ran behind Halwell. A single strike landed on the emperor’s armored back, leaving a slight scratch on the metal armor. The second strike came from Lest’s other blade, leaving a cross-shaped scratch on the back of the armor.

Just then, Halwell closed the distance between him and Frey by going forward and crossed their weapons. Halwell used the force from the side of his body to push Frey hard to the ground and turned to Lest to strike him with his sword, only to meet his. Aware of the number of opponents he was facing, Halwell single-handedly pushed Lest back and used his free hand to unsheathe another sword.

Frey’s attack was stopped as Halwell knocked the spear off target and struck her with the back of his sword, sending her against Lest. The two Earthmates crashed and fell to the ground, but they reacted quickly to roll to opposite directions as Halwell was about to stab them both. Lest quickly got up and tried attacking with his dual blades as Frey was doing the same with her spear, but both attacks were easily stopped by both of Halwell’s swords.

Halwell slightly pulled his swords, making the Earthmates to be slightly off balance, before spinning his swords to attack while knocking them away. The two landed on opposite sides with an injury from the swords’ sharp blade. Lest had landed on his stomach and looked up at his attacker, noticing the dripping liquid from one of his swords.

It was blood, his blood, as he noticed the sharp pain on his abdomen. Lest slowly got to his feet while clutching to his wound before switching his dual blades for a short sword and a shield. Using his shielded arms, he slowly healed his open wound with his cure spell, while seeing that his sister was getting back to her feet as well.

Lest expected Frey to be wounded from the attack as well, but he couldn’t see any trace of blood on her clothes. He saw that only one of Halwell’s swords had blood on it, which could only mean that Frey didn’t take any damage from the attack. His assumption was off when he saw that her wound was similar to the ones he had seen when he attacked the Guardians’ monster forms earlier.

“Frey…?” Lest looked at Frey in confusion as the female Earthmate held on her injured arm, which had some dark energy pouring out.

“Lest… Now’s not the time for this,” Frey was looking down at her arm when she noticed that Halwell was slowly approaching her.

As Halwell’s sword was about to come down at her, Frey’s fast reflexes had enabled her to dodge at the last second. While Halwell was still trying to figure what had happened to his target, Frey had stood behind him and ran her spear to the small opening in the armor just below his arm. The tip of the spear didn’t have blood on it, but the attack had created a wound for the dark energy to come pouring out.

“W-What…” Halwell turned to where Frey was, but she had disappeared from behind him and appeared at his side, punching him on the face.

Lest watched as Frey quickly turned the tables of the fight, with her single-handedly striking him down with various weapons. From the way she was fighting, he could feel that he was seeing someone else fighting instead. Her attacks were far from clean and planned as they were more like the strikes to actually destroy someone.

“S-Stop! Please!” Lest ran to the field as Frey began stepping on the emperor, who had dents in his armor, while looking at him mercilessly, “I-It hurts! STOP!!!”

There was the light sound of cracking before Lest pulled Frey away from the emperor, who was covered with dark energy. Frey stood still as Lest held her back without any retaliation, looking at the now unconscious emperor. Seeing as Frey wasn’t fighting back, Lest let her go and as soon as he did, Frey fell to her knees.

“What… happened…?” Frey looked to the front and noticed the unconscious Halwell, gasping, “What did I…”

Lest walked to her side and checked for Halwell’s pulse, “He’s still alive, but barely,” Lest turned to look at Frey in worry, “What just happened back then?”

“I… I don’t know…” Frey looked down in guilt before she noticed the open wound on her arm, which still had some dark energy pouring out, “I… I’m sorry, Lest… I can’t tell…”

Lest looked at her for a moment before nodding, “Okay, if that’s what you want…”


	30. Hidden Truth

“There, that should do it,” Lest had already finished tying up Frey’s wound and stood up.

Frey got back to her feet as well, but her eyes trailed off from her bandaged wound to the tear on Lest’s clothes, “Are you sure about this? You can just leave it open until we get out of here.”

“Don’t worry, I have spare clothes back at the castle,” Lest started walking in front of her, looking around to find the way out of the castle, “Besides, I don’t think revealing that strange wound to the others is a good idea. Not to mention that you’ll get infections from that wound.”

“I guess you’re right…” Frey slowly followed Lest’s steps as she went to look at her wound once more, _‘The infection isn’t the problem at all. Explaining everything about this wound is the main problem here,’_ Frey looked up at Lest, who continued walking ahead of her, _‘No, there will be a time to tell him everything at least. Even if he no longer remembers that day, he still deserves to know the truth…’_

Frey let out a quiet sigh as she recalled the events of a certain day, a few years earlier.

* * *

“I’m home!” Lest cheerfully entered a small house and ran towards the dining room with a piece of scroll in his hand.

“Calm down, Lest!” Frey let out a laugh as Lest ran over to the table, “It’s not like I’m going anywhere, you know.”

“Here…” Lest was still panting, but slid the scroll across the table and towards Frey, “I… just got accepted… to Norad’s royal field research team!”

“H-Huh!?” Frey hurriedly put her bread back on the plate and opened up the scroll, “This is…”

“Yes!” Lest raised his fists in the air happily, “I’ll be joining your team and begin my first job with you!”

“O-Oh… Oh!” Frey tried concealing her dissatisfaction and forced a smile, “Well, that’s great! I’m so proud of you, Lest!”

“Thanks!” Lest took the scroll back and rose from his seat, “Okay, I’ll go and get my stuff packed so I’ll be good to go tomorrow!”

“W-Wait!” Frey tried calling out to Lest, but her brother had already ran out of the room. She let out a sigh as she leaned back on her seat, _‘This isn’t supposed to happen… Lest isn’t ready for this dangerous mission, especially after the news that a few Sechs soldiers had already infiltrated Norad…’_

_“You must be very proud of your brother, correct? After all, he is very good in both the kitchen and the battlefield!”_

_“Look at him tilling those fields like he was born to do it! Maybe you should try and learn from him about taking care of the fields, so I can leave the fields for you two to take care of.”_

Frey suddenly remembered a few praises aimed towards Lest, _‘Well, the late old lady told me that he was good at the fields… Naturally, because we’re Earthmates…’_

_“Um… Frey… I think the turnips you planted a few days ago just rotted… Are you sure you still want to do this?”_

_‘Yes, I’m doing things for your sake,’_ Frey replied to Lest’s voice in her mind as a frown formed on her lips, _‘I should have been able to do it, because I’m supposed to be an Earthmate as well…’_

_“That wooly doesn’t like to be petted, though. But I think you can tell what he was thinking too, right?”_

Frey stayed silent as more and more memories come pouring into her mind, “I… can’t…” Frey looked down at her unfinished breakfast as she slowly rose from her seat, “It can’t be, right? If Lest has the power of an Earthmate, how come that I, his biological twin sister, doesn’t have that same power?”

“Frey?” the sudden call had surprised Frey, who turned to see Lest looking at her in confusion, “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” Frey quickly sat back down, “Do you need something from me?”

“No, I’m just letting you know that I’m going out to the market to buy some supplies,” Lest replied with a smile, “Do you want to come?”

Frey shook her head, “Sorry, I have something to take care of today.”

“Okay,” Lest nodded in understanding, “I’ll see you later then.”

Frey listened as Lest left the house before she went out of the dining room and into her room. Grabbing her own supplies as well as equipment, Frey headed out of the house and towards the Norad castle just a few houses away. Her decision might have been reckless, but she was determined to go with it just to protect her brother.

Frey pushed the big doors open and entered the research room, which was completely empty. She looked around the room and spotted a small bag with some blue light coming from the bag’s tiny holes. She took the bag in her hands and opened it, revealing a few glowing blue spheres inside it. She took out the smallest one and looked at it closely, brightening the room with faint blue light.

“They’re… the rune spheres Mom created before Ethelberd found out…” Frey began turning the glowing sphere around as she inspected every part of the sphere, “I feel a strange energy coming from it…”

The sound of clanging sword was suddenly heard from the other side of the door, surprising the green-haired young woman. She slowly pushed the door open, but only wide enough for her to look at the situation outside. Soldiers with two different uniforms were battling each other, much to her surprise. The scene of a soldier almost being stabbed prompted her to quickly close the door and blocked it with her body.

“T-The Sechs…” Frey whispered as her heart started beating fast from the sudden tension before she turned her attention to the rune sphere she was holding, “I… I’ll just borrow this for a while to protect myself,” she stuffed the sphere into her pocket before grabbing the rest of the spheres in the bag and put them into a shelf.

Frey peeked from the room once more to check the situation before she quietly made her way out of the room.  She went through the hall by hiding from vase to vase, making sure that none of the Sechs soldiers saw her movements. When she was near the gate, Frey was surprised by the sudden yelling coming from behind her. In shock, she turned and met eye to eye with one of the soldiers, much to her dismay.

“Soldiers! We have another witness here!” the soldier called out to his comrades before Frey ran through the gate.

A Sechs soldier suddenly came into her way as she was leaving, but Frey was ready to counter the sharp sword with her spear. She skillfully dodged the sword to the side and swung her spear to hit the soldier’s arm followed by a series of quick stabs. The armored soldier stepped back to avoid the quick stabs, only to crash into his fellow soldier and both of them fell.

Frey took the chance to run away from the castle, but not without a group of soldiers following behind her. She didn’t really pay any attention to where she was going anymore as she kept looking back to see that the soldiers were still following her around. She didn’t think of where she was now, but the forest in front of her could help her hide while she recovered her sore legs from all that running.

A few minutes passed after Frey went into the forest and the soldiers had seemed to lose her tracks. Panting, Frey walked through the same scenery of trees and bushes before she came out into a big clearing. She fell to her knees from exhaustion and tried to give herself some rest from the intense escape from the soldiers.

Frey sat under one of the trees for a short rest, but noticed a big tower when she looked at her front, “Huh?” Frey rose back to her feet and looked around in confusion, “This… this doesn’t look like the forest near the capital anymore…”

Frey approached the tower, only to notice that the rune sphere had started glowing a little brighter. She took the sphere out and looked at it once more, but her mind suddenly went blank as she stared at the object. She could feel the same strange power she felt back then as she held the sphere in her hands. The energy was pouring into her body and washed away any fatigue she had.

“I don’t feel tired anymore,” Frey noticed that she was feeling a lot more refreshed than she was moments ago, “Is this… the rune sphere’s power?”

“Yes, that is correct,” a voice suddenly was heard from behind the rustling bushes, surprising Frey as she looked around cautiously, “You’ve just felt a small portion of the runes’ power.”

“Who are you?! Show yourself!” Frey pointed her spear at the direction where the voice came from and a soldier walked out from between the trees, “That armor… I can see that you’re not just an ordinary Sechs soldier.”

“You’re correct, young lady,” the soldier stopped in front of Frey, just a few inches away from the tip of her spear, “But I have no obligation to reveal my full identity to an enemy I’m about to slay.”

“Listen well,” Frey glared at the soldier, “You’re not talking to an ordinary young lady as well,” she moved her spear a bit, pointing at the soldier’s neck, “I am the head of the field research team in Norad Kingdom, as well as the second-in-command of the king’s royal guards.”

“I see,” the soldier smirked before pulling out his sword, “Then I can finally fight against someone of my equal.”

“Captain Kane!” another soldier came running into the area, followed by a couple others behind him, “The hostage Earthmate had escaped and managed to take down a few of our men! Team one is currently tracking him down while team two is looking for the rune spheres within the castle before Norad’s reinforcement arrives.”

“Huh,” Kane turned to the soldier with a glare, “I will have those men relieved from duty. There isn’t a place in Sechs Empire for people who can’t take care of a single runt.”

“B-But…”

“Just go,” Kane turned back to face Frey, “I’ll deal with the rest of you after I clean up here.”

“Y-Yes sir!” the soldiers went back into the woods, leaving the two fighters on their own.

“Is that how you treat the people under you?” Frey asked sternly, “They are still your people, you know.”

“Know that it isn’t your place to lecture me when you had just abandoned your own team,” Kane replied as his powerful swing knocked Frey’s spear off her hands, “Give me that rune sphere and I’ll consider sparing your life.”

“Not when I can still fight and win!” Frey quickly took her spear, but the weapon was easily caught in Kane’s bare hands, “W-What?!”

“This is quite shameful to Norad,” Kane forcefully took the spear off her hands and threw it away. Just as Frey was about to run and take it back, the Sechs soldier blocked her way with his sword, “Norad’s royal guard is a complete joke. I can feel that your skills and abilities are far below mine or any other soldiers in my team.”

“I’m an Earthmate. I can do things most people can’t,” Frey looked at him with a deadly glare, but Kane remained unfazed.

“Not from what I’m informed off,” Kane took a few steps closer and kicked her in the face, sending her falling backwards, “A moderately experienced fighter when against monsters, but a complete novice when against humans. Your Earthmate abilities are little to none. Frey is your name.”

“You… what do you want with me…?” Frey slowly went to her knees, wiping the slight trace of dirt from her face.

“Didn’t I tell you?” Kane pointed his sword at Frey’s face, “I only want the rune sphere you have on you.”

“You… will never have it…” Frey slowly got back to her feet, “Not… while I’m alive!!!”

Frey charged in with her bare hands, but her punches and kicks could be easily dodged. Kane caught her fist as she was about to punch him in the chest and threw her to the side. Frey landed and rolled back to her feet, charging in once more with her fists. Kane dodged her punch to the side before kicking her hard on the stomach, sending her flying a few meters away.

“Give it up or you’ll waste your life,” Frey slowly turned her head around with her body still lying on her stomach, “You know yourself that you can’t win.”

Frey looked at the sharp metal pointed at her, completely aware that even with her training, she couldn’t beat him. She could always outsmart strong monsters and win, but the same strategy couldn’t be used against another human being. That along with her lack of experience in actual sparring matches against another person had become her disadvantage.

_‘Maybe this is it…’_ Frey had given up, until she remembered the powerful object she had been carrying, _‘Wait… I think… I can use it…’_

“Now,” Kane kicked Frey once more, turning her around so that she was lying on her back, “Where’s the rune sphere?”

Frey closed her eyes and let out a confident smile as she put a hand on her pocket, “No longer within your grasp.”

“What?!” Kane watched in disbelief as Frey rose to her feet with her wounds slowly healing.

_‘I can win this!’_ Frey opened her eyes confidently, _‘I only need more power… A lot more power!’_

The ground slightly shook as Frey raised her hand, pointing her palm at the soldier, “The power of the runes… b-but… the informant couldn’t be wrong…”

“I _am_ an Earthmate! The Earthmate who can beat you easily!” Frey spoke up as she approached the terrified soldier with the flowing energy clearly visible around her, “I… will… beat… YOU!!!”

The rune energy flowing within Frey’s body gave her enough strength to create small craters as she walk, but her steps came to a complete stop as she fell to her knees. Frey clutched her chest in pain as the glowing energy around her switched colors from blue to black. Kane watched in horror as the energy around Frey kept on changing colors, before Frey’s whole body suddenly turned transparent.

“What’s… going… on…” Frey whispered in pain as she noticed that she was fading, before everything around her went dark.

* * *

“Uh…” Frey stirred in her sleep and opened her eyes, seeing herself to be awake in an unknown place. She sat up on the bed, looking around in the empty room, “Where is this…?”

The door in the room creaked open, “Ah, I see that you’re awake now,” Frey turned to the young woman at the door, “Just a moment, I will return with His Majesty.”

Frey stared at the door in confusion as the woman left, “His Majesty…?”

The door opened once more to reveal the young woman from before, “I am sorry to keep you waiting,” the young woman bowed slightly before she stepped aside to reveal a man with light yellow hair, “I shall be on my way.”

The door closed behind the man as he approached her on the bed, “How are you feeling, young lady?”

“I’m… fine, I guess…” Frey’s head was still a bit dizzy as she looked at the man, trying to recall the identity of the person in front of him, “And you are…?”

The man chuckled, “I suppose getting forcefully sent to the forest might have some side effects to your memory. My name is Antor, the current king of Norad.”

“King…?” Frey paused for a moment, before she realized who she had been conversing with, “O-Oh! My apologies, Your Majesty!”

“No, it is fine,” Antor responded with a smile before it was replaced by a serious look, “It seems like you have had a rough time when the Sechs soldiers suddenly attacked the castle. It was quite fortunate when a distant family of mine is also an Earthmate who was willing to help resurrecting you.”

“Resurrecting?” Frey got off the bed as she looked at the king in shock, “Have I…”

Antor gave her a hesitant nod, “You happened to fuse yourself with a rune sphere, but your body rejected the foreign energy flowing in your body. With a body overflowed with rune energy, the cycle of runes forced you to be pulled into the Forest of Beginnings.”

“I… see…” Frey frowned as she slowly recalled the events with the attack up until her encounter with Kane, “Is this… my second chance at life?”

Antor shook his head, “Unfortunately, it is not. As long as you are not out of the rune energy from that rune sphere shard, you can still live your life exactly as you were able to.”

Frey reached for her pocket where she had put the rune sphere before and found a piece of the sphere there instead, “Is this rune sphere?”

“Yes, but only the remainder of it,” Antor replied, getting Frey’s attention, “The sphere exploded when you entered the forest and that particular shard was the only one we managed to recover.”

“I see…” Frey put the shard back into her pocket before a familiar person came into her mind, “Lest… Lest! Is he okay?! He is my brother!”

Antor went silent for a moment as he slightly turned his face away from her, “He… along with the rest of the rune spheres… went missing a day after you went to the forest…”

“No way…” a single tear escaped from her eyes, “That can’t be true, right…?”

“That was the unfortunate truth,” Antor’s voice turned into a whisper as he put his hands on Frey’s shoulders, “The only eye witness had already been killed, so I cannot tell you whether or not he is still alive.”

“No, he must be alive,” Frey wiped the tears from her eyes, “He has to live, or I’ll never forgive myself for leaving him behind. I already promised…”

“There is one thing I would like to clear,” Antor spoke up in a serious tone, “The Sechs is still looking for the rune spheres, so they would most likely look for him as well. If you want to find your brother, I may be able to give you a helping hand.”

“Please do,” it was Frey’s turn to put her hands on the king’s shoulders, “I’ll do anything to make it up to my brother! To make up for all the things I did wrong in the past!”

Antor could tell that those words weren’t lies and nodded, “Very well. I will put you in charge of information gathering. That position will be quite dangerous, but with the powers you obtained after fusing with a rune sphere, I am certain that you can do it.”

“Yes,” Frey released Antor from her grasp, “Your Majesty, please let me know what I need to do.”

“I will assign you to the reformed research team, or now known as the intelligence division. Your task will require you to travel between Norad and Sechs quite often, so I have to know whether or not you accept this condition,” Antor saw Frey getting down to her knee in respect, “Is that your final answer?”

“Yes,” Frey nodded while staying down on her knee.

“Good,” Antor turned to face the door, “I will keep the information about you and your brother between the two of us. This should prevent any unnecessary problem in the kingdom during your mission.”

“Yes. Thank you, Your Majesty.”


	31. Calm after the Storm

**-Lest’s POV-**

After the battle, Kane managed to find us in the castle after he had gone to the cave to escort the Guardians out safely. Frey explained everything to us, about how the Guardian’s corruption could affect even Venti, and we also told everyone about our relation to Ethelberd and Halwell. The news was a surprise to them as much as it was a surprise to me. After all, we don’t even look like the Sechs emperors by the outside and inside.

Two weeks have passed since that day. I can’t tell whether the corruption is completely gone or not, but all I can tell is that Venti is doing a lot better than when the corruption was still at large. Frey isn’t staying in the castle with us anymore, but she still visits us at least once every two days. She still has duties to attend back in the capital, so she can’t stay longer than a few hours.

I’m starting to feel that she is a close sister to me, but on the other side I can still tell that she’s not telling us everything. None of the Guardians or Kane actually paid attention to Frey’s wound back then, expect for Dolly and Pico. She looked like she was aware of something about Frey, but for some reason, she’s keeping it from me. I can’t actually force her to talk about it, but the fact that she’s hiding something from me is bothering me somehow. Why can’t you just talk to me about it if it’s actually bothering you?

**-Third Person POV-**

“Sweetie, will you stop staring at me?” the sound of his wife snapped Lest out of his trains of thought, realizing that Dolce was standing in front of him.

“Oh, sorry,” Lest shook his head to make sure that he was completely awake before putting his hoe over his shoulder, “Well, I’ll be working in the fields for the time being so let Frey know when she drops by to visit.”

“I will,” Dolce nodded before giving him a peck on the cheek, “Work hard, okay?”

Dolce watched as Lest left for the fields before Pico popped in front of her, _“Are you sure about this, Dolly? Shouldn’t you say something about it to him?”_

“No,” Pico followed Dolce closely as the two of them headed for the kitchen, “I need to be certain about the facts first. What we’re thinking now is just the conclusion we come into after we looked at her wound.”

_“You’re scared, aren’t you milady?”_ Pico’s words made the Guardian stop her activity, _“You know how it feels to lose a family… well, both of us do.”_

Dolce let out a sigh as she turned to Pico with a frown, “He’ll know the truth sooner or later. I don’t want him to think that I’m hiding everything from him.”

Pico let out a sigh and smiled, _“I think you’re worrying too much, Dolly. A bit more than usual, I guess,”_ Pico watched her friend working in the kitchen, _“I guess I can see how much your love for Lest had changed my Dolly!”_

A blush appeared on the Guardian’s face as she continued cooking, “S-Shut up!”

* * *

Lest let out a tired sigh before he admired his handiwork on the field, which was completely clean of garbage from the storm two weeks earlier. Crop seeds were planted on the tilled field and they had already been watered. His job on the field was finished and it was time for him to do his work in town.

Just as Lest was putting down his tools at the edge of the field, a scroll fell out from his pocket. He picked up the fallen scroll and the emblem of the Sechs Empire was visible on the scroll’s paper. A frown came to his face as he remembered the scroll’s contents when it was first given to him.

**_-Flashback-_ **

_“So…” Lest spoke up to Arthur and Kane as the three of them were in Arthur’s office, “The empire is requesting me to be the acting emperor?”_

_“Yes,” Kane nodded as he rolled the scroll he was holding and handed it over to Lest, “Lord Halwell still hasn’t awakened after a week of recovery even after getting help from the best doctors.”_

_Arthur turned to Lest, “It would be sad to see you go, but I will not force you to go if you wish to stay.”_

_Lest turned back to Kane, but stared at him for a moment before speaking up, “I’m sorry, I can’t.”_

_“No, I understand,” Kane responded with a smile, “The higher ups only requested for you because of your relation to Lord Ethelberd, but they never forced me to take you back.”_

_“Speaking of which,” Arthur interrupted, getting Kane’s attention, “How is the empire doing currently?”_

_“Much better than when everyone was corrupted, that’s for sure,” Kane replied with a shrug, “Everyone remembers what happened, but they don’t really know why it happened. Other than that, the corruption in the empire seems to have disappeared without a trace.”_

_“I see,” Arthur nodded in understanding, “If there is anything else we can do to help, please let us know.”_

_“Of course,” Kane nodded, “My main purpose for coming here is to deliver the scroll, but I’ll tell the higher ups that you can’t take Lord Halwell’s place.”_

_“Okay, I’ll see you later,” Lest waved the soldier goodbye as he left the office._

**_-End of Flashback-_ **

“The acting emperor?” Ventuswill asked as Lest showed her the scroll in the dragon room, “Hey, I guess I’m right about you being royalty after all!”

Lest let out a laugh, “Don’t be too proud on it, Venti. You need to remember who my father was.”

“I know,” Ventuswill paused for a moment as she stared at the wall, “Speaking of Ethelberd, I think I recall hearing something when I was still in the forest. I know that I recognize that voice, now I remember that it was him.”

“Wait,” Lest looked at the dragon god in surprise, “You met him in the Forest of Beginnings?”

“Not exactly meeting in person, though,” Ventuswill put her claw under her jaw as she tried recalling the encounter, “I can only hear his voice saying that he won’t surrender until all Earthmates perish.”

“Can he still be alive in there? And corrupting people into doing things they shouldn’t do?” Lest asked.

“No,  that won’t be possible,” Ventuswill shook her head, “Humans can’t stay and live in there for a long period of time. If a person stays there for longer than they should have, their body will soon break into runes. Even so, the soul would still remain in there forever unless there’s a special case that they’re resurrected.”

“Just like what happened to you,” Lest added, “But if his soul is still there, can he do any harm to the world?”

“Hm…” Ventuswill went back to her thoughts, but nothing came into her mind, “I’m not sure, but I think it’s very unlikely.”

“I hope so…” Lest let out a sigh, “This corruption thing just happens to come and go without a reason and a trace. I just wish that there’s a clue somewhere so that we can prevent it in the future…”

* * *

“And then, he ran around the house in panic while yelling that there was a deadly scorpion in the house!” Frey and Pico broke out into laughter while Dolce simply chuckled as she sipped on her tea.

The three girls were hanging around at the castle’s balcony with Frey telling stories about the siblings’ daily lives in the past. Two plates of flan were sitting on the table untouched as the three were busy talking. Pico was completely taken into the conversation, but Dolce had noticed that her guest hadn’t touched either her tea or her flan.

There was a single question she had been meaning to ask Frey and her observation prompted her to pop the question right away, “Before we hear more of those stories, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“Sure, we can talk while you have your flan,” Frey responded as she simply looked at her share of flan.

“Okay,” Dolce took her share of flan, but the scent of her favorite meal suddenly made her feel weird in the stomach, “Ugh…”

_“Are you okay Dolly?”_ Pico saw as Dolce put a hand on her mouth before shaking her head.

“I’m fine…” Dolce uncovered her mouth before taking a spoonful of flan, only have the weird feeling on her stomach come back, “Not again…”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Frey asked worriedly as she took the flan from Dolce’s hands, “You look kind of pale.”

“I’m… okay… ugh…” Dolce quickly rose from her seat and ran inside, heading straight towards the bathroom.

“Is she sick or something?” Frey turned to Pico.

_“That would be my best guess…”_ Pico turned to the barely touched desserts, _“Dolly really loves sweets like flan and cakes, but she’s been avoiding them for the past week for some reason.”_

“Hm…” Frey tapped her chin as she was thinking, “I don’t think she’s suddenly become bored of eating her favorite dishes…”

_“That’s impossible. There’s no way she’s going to give up on her all-you-can-eat cake routine every-”_ Pico was silenced with a single talisman landing over her mouth.

“You’re saying too much,” Dolce had just returned from the bathroom, but her face told the other two that she wasn’t feeling that much different than before, “Sorry for that interruption.”

“I don’t mind, but I don’t think you look well at all,” Frey replied worriedly, “I’ll tell Lest about your condition when I see him, so why don’t you two just stay home until he gets back?”

Dolce let out a defeated sigh, “That… might be the best…”

* * *

Lest let out a tired sigh as he pushed the castle door open while carrying an extra paper bag with him. With Dolce taking her temporary leave from her evening shift, he decided that it might be best for them to eat dinner at home to let her rest at home. With the ingredients in the paper bag put in the kitchen, Lest left for his room to check on Dolce.

Lest had expected the female Guardian to be asleep with Pico watching over her, the scene he saw was Dolce knitting on the bed with a terrified Pico at the edge of the bed, “I’m… home…?”

“Oh, welcome back Sweetie,” Dolce put her knitting aside and greeted Lest with a smile as she approached her, “How was work today?”

“More or less the usual, I guess…” Lest’s attention was focused on Pico as he let Dolce took his backpack off him, “More importantly, what happened to Pico?”

“Just a simple argument between us,” Dolce replied, completely ignoring the fact that Pico was still in the room, “Are you going to prepare dinner tonight?”

“Yeah,” Lest nodded, “I was planning to make your favorite cake today, so-”

“I want… something else, if that’s okay…” the attention of the other two in the room shifted to her, “I want… some fried veggies…”

The room became completely silent with Pico hovering in front of her with the look of disbelief, _“Did I hear that right? Dolly, you never liked eating any kind of vegetables!”_

“I’m kind of surprised too,” Lest added, “But if that’s what you want, I guess I need to head out to buy the missing ingredients…”

“Alright,” Dolce nodded, “Sorry for the trouble.”

The two watched as Lest left before Pico turned back to Dolce, _“Are you sure you’re fine milady? Do you need Jones to check your condition?”_

“I’m perfectly fine,” Dolce let out a sigh before she went back to her knitting, “You’re being a lot more stubborn today. Do you want to be wrapped in talismans again?”

_“N-No, please don’t do that again to me!”_


	32. Bad News, Good News

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the extra delay guys! Finally some free time comes so I can write again!

It was already late at night, but the actual prince of Selphia was still sitting on his desk, holding an unrolled scroll in his hands. The letter was short, but the content it held made the blond prince fix his glasses a few times to make sure that he was reading it correctly. A knock on the door prompted him to put the scroll down and turned his attention to the green-haired Earthmate coming into his office.

“Sorry for the intrusion, Lord… I mean, Arthur…” Frey gave him a slight bow as she walked towards Arthur’s desk, noticing the symbol of the Sechs on the scroll, “I see you’ve got the news already. This should save me some time to explain a few things.”

“I have the feeling you would say that,” Arthur rose from his seat, “You can take all the time you need to explain while we have some tea.”

“I can’t say everything just yet,” Frey added, “I need to confirm a few things and I believe Kiel might have looked up on it before. And I need to tell something to Lest too, because all of this has something to do with our family.”

“That’s quite unfortunate,” Arthur looked at Frey with a frown, “I might be able to call Lest here, but I doubt I can get Kiel at this hour. Forte has been keeping him from staying up too late after he almost collapsed trying to help us previously.”

“I… see…” Frey lowered her head in disappointment, “But… I think I’ll let you know a little about my assumptions. I think it’s the only thing I can do for now.”

“Very well,” Arthur nodded as he and Frey approached the chairs, “Please have a seat.”

* * *

It was early in the morning and Lest got his wake up call from the slight shaking on his bed. There was an empty spot beside him where his wife had slept and a barely-awake Pico at the other side of the bed. Judging from how the spot beside him was still warm and the fact that the bedroom door was slightly open, he could tell that Dolce was still nearby and had to go somewhere in a hurry.

“Hey, Pico?” a big yawn was the only answer he got, “Uh… are you okay?”

_“I was woken up a few hours ago…”_ Pico replied with another tired yawn, _“Milady had been going in and out of the bathroom for a while… More often than yesterday morning, I think…”_

The door creaked open to reveal the woman in question still in her night gown with a pale face, “Dolly, are you doing okay? You don’t look so good…”

“Sweetie, I’m…” Dolce quickly covered her mouth as the nausea came back and quickly ran out the door once more.

Pico let out a sigh, _“I don’t think milady is fine with her going back and forth to and out of the bathroom, but I can’t persuade her to see Jones…”_

“Don’t worry, I’ll try and talk to her,” Lest turned to Pico, “It was weird enough that yesterday she wanted to eat all kinds of vegetable dishes… salads included…”

* * *

The young couple was watching the two medics in the clinic as they did their thing once they had examined Dolce. The female Guardian was looking a bit better after Jones had given her some liquid medicine to drink and was sitting on the examination bed while holding Lest’s hand. The time Jones and Nancy took to discuss the result was long enough for Lest to start worrying over his wife’s condition, which got worse once he saw the seriousness on Jones’ face.

“Listen carefully, you two,” Jones spoke up in a serious tone. Lest and Dolce looked at the doctor nervously until a smile formed on his lips, “Congratulations, parents-to-be!”

“Congratulations, Dolly!” it was Nancy’s turn to smile as she ran over to Dolce, giving her a hug.

“S-So you’re saying…” Lest slowly caught on.

“I… We… are going to have a child…?” Dolce finished Lest’s sentence as Nancy nodded.

“While I’m certain that the two of you are happy with an additional member to your family, I think Nancy is the most excited when we found out after the examination,” Jones added with a smile.

“Of course I am!” Nancy replied excitedly, “Dolly is about to become a mother!” the smile on Nancy’s face turned into a stern look as she looked at Lest, “Being a mother is going to be tough, so I expect you to take a better care of her, okay?”

Lest nodded confidently, “You can count on me!”

“While it might be best for you to take it easy before the baby is born, do you still want to help out here?” Jones asked as Lest helped Dolce off the examination bed.

“Don’t worry, I can still handle it,” Dolce replied with a smile as she put a hand on her stomach, “I can take my day off whenever they needed me to rest.”

“Just let me know if you need to learn anything about being a mother, okay?” Nancy said with a smile, getting a nod from Dolce.

The older couple watched as Lest and Dolce left the clinic before Nancy turned to Jones, “Shouldn’t we tell them about that possibility too?”

“Oh, you mean about the child possibly being twins?” Jones turned his gaze away from Nancy and towards the door, “I would, but I don’t want to give them false hope. Even if Lest and Frey are twins, that isn’t a factor to increase the chance for them to have twins.”

“Oh well, but don’t you think it’s nice to have a mini Dolly and a mini Lest running around in Selphia?” Nancy asked with a smile.

“Er… maybe yes…”

* * *

“So our child will have a ghost for an aunt…” Dolce commented as she stared at Pico on the bed after sharing the news with her, “I guess that should be fine…”

_“Don’t worry about it, Dolly! I’ll be a great aunt and take good care of them,”_ Pico responded with a smile, prompting Dolce to do so, though for a different reason.

“Maybe we should keep them away from you until they’re used to your presence. Isn’t that right, Sweetie?” Dolce turned to where she thought Lest was, only to see that he wasn’t there, “Sweetie… Oh!” A pair of arms was wrapped around her waist, catching her off guard, “W-What are you doing?”

“I’m saying my thanks,” Lest replied softly, “Is this okay with you?”

“W-Well…” a slight blush appeared on her face, “Just… don’t leave me alone, okay? I want to raise our child together with you…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t leave you,” Lest slightly tightened his embrace while putting his hand over Dolce’s, which was on her stomach, “This child will grow up with both of their parents right on their side. I promise you, Dolly.”

“Um…” a voice coming from the other side of the door was heard, “Are you still there, Lest?”

“Is… is that you, Frey?” Lest released Dolce from his arms before he went to open the door, “Didn’t you say that you were going back last night?”

“I was going to, but something came up,” Frey looked at her twin with a serious look, “I need to talk to you, but…” Frey looked over his shoulder and at Dolce in worry, “I think it’s best that she doesn’t know about this for now.”

“O-Okay. Let’s head down and talk there instead,” Frey nodded at Lest’s suggestion.

“I’ll go and get Arthur and Kiel too. They had figured something out for us,” Frey left ahead as Lest excused himself out of the room.

* * *

“So… what is this all about?” Lest looked around at Frey, Kiel, and Arthur, who looked anxiously at him while sitting around the dining table.

“This letter,” Arthur unrolled a scroll in front of Lest, “was delivered to me last night. For some reason, Emperor Halwell went missing shortly after Kane went back to the empire.”

“W-Wait…” Lest read the letter in disbelief, “I thought that he was still unconscious!”

“He was,” Frey replied shortly, getting Lest’s attention, “He had never actually been conscious for a while, to be exact. Well, for almost a year I think.”

“A year…?” Lest leaned back on his seat, “A year ago… that’s… that’s around the time I fought Ethelberd!”

“Sadly, that’s not the end of it,” Kiel added as he opened a book he had, “I found something disturbing in this book… and what happened that time might be exactly what’s written in this book.”

Lest took the book as Kiel gave him, looking at the opened pages, “Living runes… A soul from the Forest of Beginnings which had fused with the runes…”

“A corrupt soul actually, if it’s actually Ethelberd,” Frey added before she flipped a few pages ahead and pointed a passage on one of the pages, “Here, it says that living runes can only occur because of a few factors and can take over a weak-willed person’s consciousness.”

“I… I thought he was already gone back then but…” Lest was speechless with all the facts given to him, “But what about the factors? Is there a clue somewhere in the book about what might cause Ethelberd’s soul to fuse with the runes?”

“I’ve tried reading it through to the end, but there’s no mention about the factors there,” Kiel replied with a frown, “The book only tells us about what happened with the souls and the runes, but not the reasons for the living runes’ occurrence…”

“I can assume it’s most likely to be greed for power or the fact that he had used the rune spheres himself,” Frey added, “They’re the most possible reasons and I think I might be able to give a solution for this,” Frey pointed at Lest, “You, Lest, and your charm…”

“My… charm…?” Lest looked at Frey in surprise until he remembered that Frey had given him a charm when they first met, “Is it that charm that you gave me before?”

“That was just a replica… and that was actually mine,” Frey pulled the charm she was wearing around her neck, “This one is the real one, which holds the key to solving this once and for all.”

“Frey, are you sure about this?” Arthur asked Frey with a stern look, “If it is as you told me last night, then…”

Frey paused for a moment as her face softened, “To be honest, I don’t know…” Frey looked at Lest once more, “This charm responds to me, but it will respond better to you. It’s the very reason why you’re the one who have to do it, despite how risky it is.”

“You… never told me there was more about those charms…” Lest slowly spoke up as he took the original charm from Frey, “You hardly say anything about our family is supposed to do now, even after Venti is saved.”

“I… I’m sorry,” Frey lowered her head in guilt as her reply came with shaky voice, “We’re twins, yet we’re born with great difference in strength and abilities… We had different roles in our family and I… I don’t want to lose another family…”

“I… I still don’t get it…” Lest turned to Arthur, pleading for more answers.

“I may have heard about your family a long time ago,” Arthur responded, “There was a special family of Earthmates with the power to purify evil. Unfortunately, only a select few could actually purify an evil soul with a big cost.”

“Yes…” Frey added in a whisper, “One can purify a soul, at the cost of that person’s life…”

“H-Huh? Does that mean…?” Kiel came to realization.

“You need me to purify Ethelberd’s soul, at the cost of mine. Is that what you’re saying?” Lest looked at Frey in a serious look, getting a nod from Frey.

“That’s why… I don’t know what to do anymore…” Frey added with a frown, “Especially after what I heard from Nancy a while ago…”

“Is this the only way to save Halwell?” Lest turned to Kiel and Arthur.

“Unfortunately, this is the only solution we found,” Arthur replied sadly, “I shall offer you my deepest apology.”

“Any other books and ancient scrolls I read led me to this point too,” Kiel replied with a frown, “Sorry I can’t be much of help…”

“Lest,” Frey spoke calmly, “I can try and do what I can to help you purify him, but I’m not sure how much I can take your burden for the purification.”

Lest looked around at the people on the table once more before taking a deep breath, “I want to help, to be honest. I don’t know much about the new emperor and I don’t even remember my family’s mission. But I fought Ethelberd once before, so I think I should go and finish the job. It’s… my responsibility.”

“What about Dolce?” Arthur asked, “I hardly know about marriage, but I am quite aware that the wound from a broken bond cannot heal easily.”

“Don’t tell her,” Lest shortly replied, “There should still be a chance of survival, as small as it is, so I don’t want her to worry about the future which might not even come true.”

Arthur paused for a moment before nodding, “Very well, if that is your wish.”

“I won’t tell either,” Kiel added, “I’ll do my best to keep a secret.”

“Thanks you two,” Lest gave them a small smile, knowing that his secret would probably be safe.

Little did he know that there weren’t just four people present in the main room as two other figures had listened in to their whole conversation. Dolce and Pico had been standing around the stairs near the main room, but the distance was close enough for them to hear everything. The female Guardian froze in her place, with her ghost friend worrying over the shock from the sudden news.

_“Dolly…? Are you… going to be fine…?”_


	33. No Longer a Secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update is here!

“I… still can’t let you decide just like that,” Frey rose from her seat, getting the attention from the three men, “You know why I’m saying this, don’t you?”

“I know,” Lest replied in determination, “That’s why I want to keep it a secret.”

Frey let out a sigh, “You and your secrets again… even if you don’t remember about it, I could figure out your secret back then. But what I’m saying is that you’re not on your own anymore, so you should think more about what they’re going to feel.”

“I… I know that, but…”

“Sweetie, you can go,” the familiar voice brought shock to Lest’s face as he quickly turned to the source of the voice.

“D-Dolly?” Lest looked at his wife nervously as she approached the group calmly, “Did you…?”

Dolce nodded and frowned, “I did, and I’m sorry…”

The Guardian turned around and headed out towards the door with Pico catching up to her, leaving Lest completely clueless on what he should have done. He turned as Frey tugged on his clothes, with a worried look on her face, “You can go with me then, once you’ve talked to her. I still fear the worst, so I suggest you should spend some quality time with her today.”

“… Yeah…” Lest replied sadly before turning to the other two in the room, “But before that, when should we be leaving? And where to?”

“The sooner the two of you leave, the better. I still need to prepare the airship for you, so tomorrow morning should be the earliest time you can go,” Arthur replied before turning to Kiel, “As for the location, Kiel had found the place where the emperor will most likely be.”

“Hold on, I’ve marked it on this map…” Kiel took out a worn map from the book, pointing at a single spot, “Living runes are most likely attracted to places with high level of runes, like this one.”

“This is…” Lest looked around the pointed spot of the map as he noticed that it was familiar to him, “It’s around Leon Karnak… the entrance leading to the Forest of Beginnings…”

“Yeah, I thought so,” Frey added, “Ethelberd’s presence might alter the layout of the entrance, but it should be safe for humans to go through there. After all, he is now half human and half runes.”

“Well, I assume that settles everything,” Arthur spoke up as he and Kiel got up from their seats, “I wish there is something more I can offer to you other than to wish for your safety, but it seems like this is our limit.”

“Lest,” Kiel looked at Lest with a frown, “We’re your friends too, so we’re also worried about you. I don’t think I can do anything else to help make sure you come back alive other than to hope for the worst to happen to you.”

Lest gave Kiel a nod, “Okay, I’ll try and do what I can.”

* * *

It was already night time in Selphia and the female Guardian was spending her night life on the castle’s balcony along with Pico. Spending a day with Lest had lifted her spirits after her world turned upside down from the news she had heard that day, but as night came she knew that her pain hadn’t completely healed.

“You look a bit more relaxed now that you’ve spent some time with Lest,” Dolce turned around in surprise as Frey stood there innocently, “I guess my brother isn’t so dense after all.”

“Y-You’re just seeing things,” Dolce turned away to hide her blush, but her embarrassment prompted Pico to follow up the teasing.

_“Dolly couldn’t seem to take her eyes off Lest and she was smiling all the-ouch!”_ a talisman landed on Pico’s head, stopping her from embarrassing the Guardian even more.

“I can tell from your actions that you’re fine now,” Frey walked over to Dolce’s side, joining her on the balcony, “Even if you’re doing okay so far, I really wish that I don’t have to put you in this situation in the first place,” Frey let out a sigh, “I’m sorry…”

There was a short pause before Dolce spoke up quietly, “If you really are sorry,” the Guardian turned to Frey with a small smile, “then tell me more about you and your brother’s past.”

“Huh?” Frey looked at her in confusion.

“Well, I don’t actually know about his past other than what you had told him before,” Dolce added as she turned her attention to the night sky, “I’ve told him about my family and Pico before, so I figured I should learn more… about him…”

“Well…” Frey put her hands together in excitement, “Since you’re the one asking for those stories, I can tell them as detailed as I remember them…”

* * *

“Hah…” Frey let out a long sigh after her constant laughing as she told Lest’s most embarrassing past stories, “Well, those are his most embarrassing moments I can remember. There could be more that I missed though…”

“I suppose that those stories were quite entertaining,” Dolce giggled along while Pico was laughing as she hovered beside her.

_“Entertaining? They were so funny that they almost as funny as your stories as a little girl!”_ Pico’s laughs were quickly silenced with a swarm of talisman covering her face.

“… What a dumb ghost,” Dolce whispered in embarrassment.

Frey watched the two of them with a smile, “I can see that the two of you get along quite well too. It’s almost like you two are actually sisters!”

“That’s what she claimed,” the female Guardian let out a sigh as she turned to the innocently-smiling Pico, “She’s just a sticky and perverted ghost I happened to come across one day.”

_“Aren’t you being a little too mean on me, Dolly?”_ Pico looked at her friend with a frown, but Dolce could see through the ghost’s antics, _“D-Dolly?”_

Dolce let out a smile as she turned around at Frey, “You can ignore her. I’ll take care of the ghost later.”

“Y-Yeah… I guess?” Frey laughed awkwardly before a yawn escaped her mouth, “It’s getting late anyway, so maybe it’s best that we get some sleep for an early start tomorrow.”

Frey turned around and was about to leave, until Dolce called out to her, “Wait, I need to ask you one more thing.”

Frey turned to her with a tired smile, “If it’s about Lest, I think I’m already out of stories for the night.”

Frey hurriedly got back to her tracks until the Guardian called out to her once more, “It’s about you,” Frey stopped in her tracks, but didn’t turn around, “You told us about your childhood until the two of you grew up. Yet, you never told us why and how you and Lest got separated-”

“Personal issues,” Frey replied quickly, looking at Dolce and Pico with a serious face, “I… I can’t say anything more about it.”

“Okay, I won’t ask about that issue if that’s your wish,” Dolce looked back at the Earthmate, “That, supported with a few suspicious actions of yours… reminds me of a certain someone around here…”

Pico hovered to her side, _“I’m thinking the same thing as milady.”_

“W-What do you-”

“Ghosts can’t eat human food,” Dolce spoke up sternly, “Isn’t that right, Pico?”

The ghost girl nodded, _“I can’t eat and I can barely touch anything.”_

“You never actually eat anything from I can see,” Dolce added, “But if you’re a ghost, you shouldn’t be able to touch anything.”

“W-Well, that’s because I’m a human being…” Frey stated defensively, but it wasn’t enough to stop the two from questioning her.

_“You can’t be a human being, because you can’t survive without eating,”_ Pico added.

“You can’t be a ghost either,” Dolce paused for a moment before she asked her final question, “Who or what are you?”

Frey saw the seriousness in their eyes and after a few moments of silence, she sighed in defeat, “It’s just like Lest said about you. You can tell if someone is hiding something,” Frey looked at the two with a sad smile, “Okay, I’ll tell you the truth about myself…”

* * *

The next morning came and a small crowd had formed near the airship. Dolce, Pico, and Forte were present to see Lest and Frey took off. Arthur had already boarded the airship as the navigator, waiting for the two Earthmates to say their goodbyes. As Lest and Frey were going to board the airship, Dolce came over with two cloth-wrapped boxes and handed them over to Lest.

“It’s your lunch,” Dolce told Lest in a whisper as she looked at him without any visible emotions.

“Two portions?” Lest looked at the boxes in confusion before turning back to his wife, “You mean it’s for me and Frey, right?”

There was a slight pause before her reply came with another whisper, “Maybe.”

“Thanks Dolly,” Lest wrapped Dolce in a hug before he and Frey boarded the airship.

“Um…” Forte suddenly spoke up, though hesitantly, “Kiel told me about the situation yesterday. If there’s anything I can do to help…”

“Protect the town,” the dragon knight stared at Lest, “We can’t have you join our fight this time. My only request is that you protect the town in my and Arthur’s absence.”

“Understood,” Forte nodded and smiled, “Both of you, please be safe.”

There was a short pause before Frey spoke up to answer, “Yeah… yeah, we will.”

Dolce looked up as the airship took off without saying a word. Pico was watching her worriedly as the Guardian kept on watching the airship until it was out of sight. She knew that Dolce wanted to do something for Lest, but any action she took would eventually end up hurting him. As if the news of his losing his life wasn’t enough to burden her, more sad news about him came just the night before. She just wanted him to have a normal and happy life with her, just like how her parents had wished for her happy life.

**_-Flashback-_ **

_“I’m a living rune, just like Ethelberd,” Frey’s words silenced Dolce in Pico, who both looked at her in disbelief, “And just like Ethelberd, my greed of power turned me into this… I can only make it out here from the help of an Earthmate the king knows.”_

_“Does… does he know?” Dolce asked shakily._

_Frey frowned and turned her head away, “No, that’s what I’m trying to prevent him from finding out. If I’m the only one to go for this mission, then that secret will never be revealed to him. This is my sin and I’m going to pay the price with my own life instead of his.”_

“But if it comes to this, then something must be wrong, correct?” _Pico asked._

_“Yes…” Frey slowly nodded, “Even with my own life and Lest’s charm, the power isn’t enough to completely purify Ethelberd’s soul. But… it could be possible if both of us are present.”_

_“Even with that… the risk is still there…?” Dolce asked sadly, getting a nod from Frey, “No… Is this the only way…?”_

_“I can try,” Frey put a hand on her pocket and pulled out a glowing shard, “I can try and use this too. I just hope that the rune shard still have enough power even after enabling me to stay here longer than I should have…” Frey closed her eyes and put the rune shard back into her pocket, “So please… Don’t let Lest know about this… about what I am…”_

_“Yes…” Dolce slowly nodded, “I won’t tell him…”_

**_-End of Flashback-_ **


	34. The Final Struggle

“Eat this!” Frey swung her hammer around, knocking any types of monsters coming her way.

Lest managed to send the monsters surrounding him with his dual blades, but the number of monsters around the Earthmates hadn’t reduced much. The monsters more powerful than their regular counterpart as the dark aura surrounded them and the dark forest they were all in. The dragons launched their elemental breath along with the fairies attacking the Earthmates using their magic, pitting them to a corner.

“There are too many of them!” Lest said quickly as he raised his shield to block incoming fireballs from the red dragons, “And they’re just too strong!”

“You don’t,” Frey caught one of the fairies and threw it against the pack of silver wolves, “need to tell me that again!”

Lest blocked a rider orc’s club as it rode on a wolf, only to have more orc riders storming towards him with their own wolves. The male Earthmate could only block the orc riders and wolves by his shield, though a pair managed to find a way to hit and bite him in the end. Before more of the monster armies came to him, a wave of stone spikes came out from the ground and pushed them back to give Lest some space.

Frey, in her tired state, ran to Lest side, “Cure All!”

The healing spell managed to heal their wounds, but it couldn’t erase the fatigue they had after battling monsters over and over again. It hadn’t been long since the two of the arrived, but the monsters there had already been waiting for them since their arrival. The regular sight of white nothingness with colorful leaves flying around had already been replaced by the view of a forest filled with dead trees and monsters.

“The runes…” Frey looked around as the monsters slowly approached them once more, “It’s starting to corrupt everything… He is… corrupting everything…”

“Then we have to find him, and fast!” Lest replied as he stood ready with his short sword and shield, “We can’t beat all the monsters here at once, but we might be able to make a way through them, don’t you think?”

“It’s not going to be easy either way,” Frey curled her fist while holding her hammer on her left hand, “But making a way out of these guys is definitely a lot easier than beating them all.”

The twins switched places, with Lest on the left side to block the incoming attacks with his shield while Frey used her hammer to push the monster to the right and make a way. Little by little the strategy managed to lead them out of the monster crowd with little damage as they sped away from the rampaging monsters.

The maze-like forest managed to help their escape, but also make them lost their way as well. Lest and Frey looked at the trees around them, which looked completely identical in every direction. It was getting harder for them to tell where they had come from to reach the spacious clearing they were in.

“Not good,” Frey turned to Lest with serious look, “There’s no way out of this place. The corrupted runes are blocking my Escape magic.”

Lest closed his eyes for a moment, trying to activate the spell as well, “Yeah, I can’t use it either…”

“Oh, are you leaving so soon?” a voice echoed throughout the forest, surprising the two.

“I haven’t forgotten that voice…” Lest commented in a whisper as he held on to his sword and shield, “We’ve found who we’re looking for.”

“Yeah, I can sense those corrupted runes of his,” Frey replied as she held on to her hammer, “Ethelberd is here to greet us… from above!”

The two Earthmates quickly split as something hard had fallen on the ground they had been standing on. Once the dust had cleared, the figure revealed himself as the missing young emperor with his long hair a mix of the original teal color and light blue. His green eyes were glowing red as he turned to look at Lest and Frey with a wicked smile.

“Long time no see, my dear children,” the smile turned into a frown as he glared at them, “No, I refuse to acknowledge my great blood to run in your bodies with that cursed Earthmate’s blood!”

“You don’t have any right to talk bad about our mother!” Frey yelled in anger, “We don’t have a father like you! We never had any!”

“I don’t want to call you as my father too,” Lest spoke up as he glared at the emperor, “I don’t remember my own past, but I remember you and your empire trying to destroy Selphia! I remember you trying to take Venti away!”

“Huh? That sad excuse of a wind dragon?” Ethelberd looked at him in an amused look, “Well, at least that dragon still had some strength left that I could borrow…” Ethelberd’s form turned its color into pitch black before morphing into the familiar wind dragon, “Like this!”

Ethelberd flapped the strong wings he now had and a powerful gust managed to knock the Earthmates off the ground and towards the trees behind them. The emperor transformed back to his human form with dark aura around his body. The two Earthmates slowly got back to their feet, looking at Ethelberd in complete disbelief.

“That… that was Venti’s… power…” Lest spoke up as he winced from the pain on his back.

“H-How…?” Frey asked as she used her hammer for support, “You… you’re already a dead man!”

“Hah! Nonsense!” Ethelberd swung his arm to throw a dark ball towards Frey, pinning her against the tree, “I live on in that wretched place! I can fuse myself with any kinds of runes I want! I can be any god I want! I AM GREATER THAN ANY GOD!”

“You… greedy… monster… ugh…” the dark ball pinning her turned into wooden spikes coming from the dead tree, choking her.

“S-Stop it!” Lest cried out angrily, “I already beat you once, I can just easily beat you again!”

“Do you study about the Native Dragons, Earthmate?” Ethelberd turned his attention to Lest before he transformed into a big black dragon with burning wings, “Like the dragon god of destruction?!”

Lest quickly rolled out of the way as Ethelberd unleashed a big fireball at him, only to have the burning fireball curved in its path and hit Lest, “GAH!!!”

“I… I won’t let you… hurt him!” Frey pushed the spikes away before burning them with her fire magic to free herself.

“You cannot defeat me, Earthmates!” Ethelberd transformed into a big snake-like dragon, shooting water laser around the area to hit both Lest and Frey.

Frey fell on her stomach, barely conscious from all the strain and damage she had taken. As if her pain wasn’t enough, Ethelberd approached her as Lest laid helplessly to watch the emperor stomped his foot on his twin’s head. Her face was battered, but not a single drop of blood was spilled as Ethelberd stomped and kicked her around on the face.

“Huh, I guess there’s another like me in this world after all,” Ethelberd stopped his act as he looked at Frey’s motionless body in disgust, “An Earthmate version of myself… what a disgusting-”

A ball of light hit Ethelberd square in the face, but not with enough force to knock him away far enough. Frey slowly stood with her wounds slowly healing from the use of another healing spell, before she turned around to look at him with a cold stare. As Ethelberd was about to transform once more, Lest had come from behind him to strike him with a long slash on his back, stopping his transformation process.

“You…!” Ethelberd sent out a barrage of fireballs at Lest, slightly knocking him back, before he followed up with a small ball of light thrown at him.

“Get back!” Frey pushed Lest out of the way before escaping herself as the ball of light grew larger in size, creating a crater of blue light in the middle of the area.

With the huge crater dividing the area between the two Earthmates and Ethelberd, the three of them were only left with magic attacks which brought a disadvantage to Lest and Frey. Ethelberd soon transformed into Aquaticus and used his long body to reach and knock the Earthmates towards the trees helplessly.

The barrage of fireballs Lest and Frey had sent out to counterattack was absorbed as Ethelberd transformed into Fiersome, who then pulled them closer along with the burning branches around them. Just as they were getting closer to him, the transformed emperor spun around to knock them back once more.

Frey was thrown towards the tree once more, but the stinging pain all over her body had prevented her from getting up. Lest was thrown to the ground, but the fatigue from the battles against the monsters had caught up to him once more to prevent him from using any healing spell on the two of them. Frey let out a desperate and pained sigh as she reached out for her pocket, taking the rune sphere shard in her hand.

_‘Please… make it work…’_ Frey thought as she forced herself to crawl towards Lest, who noticed her coming, “Lest… It’s time…”

“The purification… huh…” Lest reached for his own pocket, taking out the white-fish like charm, “Our last… resort…”

“Resist all you can, but it won’t matter anymore,” Ethelberd spoke up as the twins slowly rose to their feet while leaning on each other for support, “Today… today will be the day I can annihilate all Earthmates left in this world! I will finally have my revenge!”

“Lest, listen to me,” Frey spoke up as she and Lest held the charm together, “You can just focus on giving me your purification energy. I’ll handle the rest.”

“I’ll try…” Lest’s hesitance in his voice got Frey’s attention, “But I don’t know how I can do it…”

“Just focus the way you usually do when you’re casting magic,” Frey replied, “That purification spell is also a type of magic.”

Lest nodded in understanding, “Got it.”

The two Earthmates closed their eyes as a ball of light formed around the charm, quickly swallowing anything in the area. Ethelberd looked at the Earthmates swallowed by the light before it soon covered the crater he had created as well. He tried running in panic, but the light grew faster before he could escape his fate. All of the dead trees, monsters, and the corrupted runes quickly disappeared into the light, restoring the forest into its original state.

Sensing the familiar surroundings, Lest opened his eyes to see that he was back into the empty space of the forest, but without the flying leaves. He was on his own as Frey was nowhere to be seen, but he found something unexpected as he looked around for her. It was something he never dreamed of actually seeing.

The black soul of Ethelberd, slowly being eaten by the light, was floating in the middle of the white space. The parts which had been eaten slowly turned into smaller leaves, flying towards a vortex of other colorful leaves behind Ethelberd. It was the same place Lest saw Frey, who looked at him with a sad smile as she approached him.

“The process is going to take a lot of time here, but not if I take him into the Forest of Beginnings through this gate,” Frey said as she looked at Ethelberd, “He did what he shouldn’t and his punishment will be having his soul perish in the forest.”

“Then let’s take him there,” Lest suggested, but was confused when Frey shook her head, “Why? You said that it’ll be faster-”

“I did,” Frey cut in, “But that’s not the reason why we shouldn’t take him there. Or to be exact, that’s not the reason why you shouldn’t take him to the Forest of Beginnings.”

“If it’s because the forest isn’t a place for living beings, doesn’t that apply to you too?” Lest asked in response.

Frey looked at him for a moment before she closed her eyes and smiled once more, “I see that those two their promises after all, if you know nothing about my condition.”

“Your… condition…?” Lest looked at her in confusion.

“Lest,” Frey opened her eyes and looked at him, “I… am no longer alive…”

“W… What…?”


	35. Forgotten Memories

“I’m… just like him…” Frey’s voice turned into a whisper as both of them looked at Ethelberd, “Just like Ethelberd, I’m a living rune too…”

“You never told me,” Lest responded sternly, “Why didn’t you say that you’re already dead?”

“Because I know you very well,” Frey replied in a shaky voice, “We’ve witnessed our own mother murdered right in front of us. Haven’t you considered that kind of trauma? To know that the family you’re looking for is also dead?”

Lest only gave a silent respond, knowing the truth in her words. If he knew that he already been on his own, he would have reverted to his old self when he first arrived in Selphia. He would return to being a lost child, not knowing who he was or where he had come from, but eventually ended up in a place filled with warm people. A new family he could call his own.

“But I have to admit, I was wrong about one thing,” Frey let out a smile, “You were never alone, which was proven when you can handle being a prince without me to help you all the time. Now I understand when you said you didn’t need me anymore back then.”

“I… said that?” Lest looked at Frey in confusion as she showed him her palm.

“I’ll share you some memories of our time,” Frey’s palm started glowing as hers and Lest’s body started glowing slightly, “But this time, let the runes tell you the actual stories instead. They’ll tell you that we didn’t always get along as siblings.”

* * *

“Are you sure you’ve brought everything you need? Enough money? Water? Food?” Frey asked in worry as she went over Lest’s rucksack, making sure anything necessary was inside.

“I’ve asked around about the price yesterday, so the money should be enough,” Lest replied as he watched his sister looking into his belongings, “I don’t think I’ll need that much food or water for a short hike to the bazaar today. Well, it’s not like I plan on camping out in the wild…”

“Oh right, I think you forgot something,” Frey put the mess she had made on Lest’s things on the table as she left the room, making Lest groan in frustration.

“Come on, I need to leave quickly or we won’t have enough food for the next season!” Lest protested before seeing Frey coming back into the room with several pieces of gear in her hands, “What are those?”

“If you’re going out there, then there should be monsters as well,” Frey took a rusted shield and shoved it to Lest, “Use this to block their attacks,” Frey took a pair of dual blades and put them in his hand, “If you need to counterattack a fast enemy, use dual swords to your advantage,” Frey went through the other equipments before Lest stopped her by putting the ones he was holding back on the table, “Hey, you must carry that all the time! The world out there-”

“I know about the monsters, Frey,” Lest replied in annoyance as he unsheathed a little of his own sword, “See? I already have one with me. Besides, I can fend off monsters on my own after a bit of training. I don’t need you to be worried about me all the time!”

“I am your sister!” Frey raised her voice in anger, “I have all the right to be worried about my one and only brother! You still need me to look after you!”

“No, you know that’s not true,” Lest took back his belongings and started walking away, “I think it’s more like you need me to dote on like when we’re kids, but we’re already adults! I feel like a helpless little kid who needs a stalker-like sister…” Lest looked back at her, but had already calmed down from anger, “Just… leave me alone…”

“Lest…”

* * *

Lest stood still in his place, looking at Frey with guilt all over his face. Frey responded with a smile, “Don’t be like that. I know that it wasn’t right of me to treat you too much like a kid.”

“Yeah, but…” Lest started, “I feel like there are things I should say better to you back then… I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay, I forgive you,” Frey let out a sigh, “Besides, I really think I deserved it. Especially after I envy you for being better than me in many things…”

“Really? I feel like you’re a lot better in doing most things… except for cooking…”

“H-Hey!” Frey yelled out in annoyance as she blushed in embarrassment, “You did the cooking all the time, so I didn’t have the chance to actually do it myself!” Frey looked at the surprised Lest before calming herself down with a deep breath, “Well, I was never good at anything… That’s why I’ve always envied you… I didn’t like how people compared us, so the only thing I could do the best was trying to be a good sister to you…”

“So that’s how we got into that argument…” Lest felt guilty once more after remembering the memory.

“But… I guess I do recall myself being better than you at one thing…” the twins’ body started glowing once more, “Our mother was there too…”

* * *

“Okay kids, it’s time to learn more about the Earthscript!” a woman with long green hair called out to the younger versions of Lest and Frey, with Lest came running towards her in excitement as Frey simply walked while looking completely uninterested.

“Yay! I love Earthskip! Teach us, Mommy!” Lest called out in excitement, making his mother chuckle.

“Lest, it is called Earthscript, not Earthskip,” Sara turned to her other child, “Frey, don’t make that kind of face again. Can’t I see the beautiful smile of my little angel?”

Frey shot a smile, “Look, I’m smiling!” the smile soon disappeared from her face, replaced with a frown, “Can we go out and play now? Earthscript is too easy for me! It’s boring!”

“You know that’s not true, dear,” Sara walked over to her hesitant child and took her hand, “Both of you still need to study more because it looks like you still hardly know anything about Earthscript.”

“What about magic, Mommy?” Lest tugged on his mother’s clothes, “Frey told me that her fire magic is so good she made the backyard boom-boom!”

“Stupid Lest! It was supposed to be a secret!” Frey called out in panic, until she saw the anger in her mother’s eyes, “M-Mommy?”

Sara let out an irritated sigh, “That explains why the maids carried buckets of water to the backyard yesterday…” Frey closed her eyes in fear as Sara squatted down to her level, only to be given a pat on the head, “I know you’re very good at your magic, but you cannot use it whenever you like. People could get hurt because of your magic.”

“I… I’m sorry, Mommy…!” Frey buried her face in her mother’s arms as she let her tears out from the fear and guilt, “I-I promise… I won’t do it again…”

“Now that’s one problem settled,” Sara turned to Lest as she comforted the crying girl, “I wonder if the scratches on the hallway floor from the maids’ bathroom to the backyard had something to do with this as well…”

Lest looked at his mother with teary eyes, aware that his mother had already seen through his actions, “B-But… Frey is… a-and the fire is… the yard i-is too hot…”

“Lest was…!” Frey’s voice managed to get Sara’s attention, “Lest was… trying to… save me… when I was saving… a family of birdies…”

Sara was left with two crying kids in her arms and her attempt on giving them more lessons had to be postponed. She brought the two into a hug, “You did what you could to help so that the little birdies are safe now. And you two did well looking out for each other, but…” Sara turned to Frey with a smile, “This little princess of mischief needs an extra lesson today!”

* * *

“She was a kind mother, wasn’t she?” Frey asked Lest with a sad smile, “Even after my best magic managed to set the half of the backyard on fire, she still had that warm smile of hers to comfort me…”

“Yeah… I think I’m starting to remember a little more about her…” Lest responded with a sad smile before he noticed that both Frey and Ethelberd were starting to turn invisible, “Frey, your body!”

Frey gave him a nod, “I know,” she turned around to face the gate, “The rune sphere shard’s power is slowly fading after the amount of time I spent out here and the battles I’ve fought.”

“Can’t you just stay here? The people in Selphia are willing to take you in just like they did with me,” Lest looked at his twin, who stood there and completely unresponsive at his words.

“I wish I could…” Frey responded, “But I got into this situation because of myself, so it’s my responsibility to see the end of it,” the female Earthmate turned to look at Lest with a sad smile as tears rolled on her cheek, “There are lots of memories I want to share with you… Good memories… Bad memories… But this is all I can do for you…”

Frey’s body started disappearing along with Ethelberd, making Lest even more panicked, “W-Wait! DON’T GO!!!”

As soon as the two figures disappeared from his sight, a small ball of light in the spot where Frey used to be. The light shone brightly and completely covered the whole area, bathing the place in bright white light. As the light shone, a series of images came pouring into Lest’s head, giving him back the memories he had once lost. All the adventures he had with his sister, all the troubles they had caused together, and all the family memories with or without their mother. They were all his precious memories and they had already come back. A single tear left his eye as he remembered his past and the fact that the last of his blood relative was gone.

_“I wish I could still go on more adventures with you… but this is how it’s supposed to end…”_

Lest opened his eyes, finding himself standing at the foot of Leon Karnak with runes slowly coming out of the ground.

_“… I’m sorry, Lest… for not being a good enough sister to you…”_

“You already are a good one, Frey…” Lest looked up at the sky as more tears fell from his eyes before he collapsed on the hard ground.

As his consciousness was slipping away, he could hear a faint sound of metal objects falling near him and some footsteps.

“Sir Halwell… Lest… take… airship…”


	36. The Final Puzzle Piece

Lest slowly opened his eyes as the bright light from a lamp shone on his face. His head was throbbing as he sat up on the bed with two people sitting on the side of the bed.

“He seemed unhurt, Sir Arthur. Just as I had assumed, he had collapsed from exhaustion,” Lest turned to the source of the unfamiliar voice, but he couldn’t recognize the figure’s face because of his tired eyes, “Sir Lest, have you felt better after some rest?”

“Yeah… I guess…” Lest rubbed his tired eyes before trying to look at the person speaking to him, “And you are?”

“Ah, my apologies,” the figure turned out to be a man with long teal hear, “My name is Halwell, the current emperor of Sechs Empire. I am Lord Ethelberd’s… son.”

“Oh, uh…” Lest looked at the emperor nervously, “I-I’m sorry for a being a little rude, but… are you… the real emperor now?”

“Indeed I am,” Halwell nodded, “Sir Arthur here had told me regarding the situation you and your dear sister had to go through because of me,” the emperor rose from his seat, lowering his head, “For that, please accept my sincere apology.”

“Sister…” Lest’s memories of the previous events suddenly came back to him as he turned to Arthur, “Arthur, is she…?”

Arthur looked at him with a pained look before shaking his head, “I’m sorry…”

“I… see…” Lest turned away in disappointment before Halwell approached him and put something into his hand, “Huh? Isn’t this…”

“For any reason I am not aware of, that pendant was in my hand when I regained consciousness,” Halwell started his explanation, “For a short moment during the time Father was in control of my body, I recalled seeing something quite similar to that pendant around your sister’s neck. I can only assume that your sister wished for you to keep her pendant for her.”

Lest let out a sad smile as he ran a finger across the black fish-like figure, “She told me once before, that these things are charms meant to bring people together. They could be families, siblings, or couples…”

“If that’s the case, then I can say that charm can also bring two countries together,” Arthur turned to Halwell with a serious look as Lest watched the two nobles in confusion, “Sir Halwell, I believe the time has finally come for Norad and Sechs to sign a peace treaty. One of your soldiers had told me about your wish for making peace with our kingdom.”

“Yes, that is true,” Halwell nodded in agreement, “Kane had informed me of the peace treaty shortly before this incident and I plan to go with the treaty regardless the Sechs Elders’ opinion. When shall we hold this important event?”

“We may have to discuss it with my father as well,” Arthur turned to the confused Lest, “Lest, I hope you don’t mind if we go and see my father before escorting Sir Halwell back to Sechs.”

“I don’t really mind,” Lest replied with a smile, “I don’t think I can see the others back home right now…”

Arthur stared at the Earthmate before nodding, “Very well, I shall let the captain know of your routes.”

Halwell stayed behind in the room with Lest as Arthur left to talk to the captain and sat back down, “I might have seen your sister a few years ago, back in the castle in Sechs.”

“Huh?” Lest looked up in surprise, “Why would she be there?”

“To be honest, I didn’t know at that time,” Halwell turned his seat to look at Lest, “Being a little girl, I assumed that she was lost and somehow made her way into the castle. Kane, who was still a soldier-in-training at that time, caught her making quite a mess in the late Lady Sara’s room.”

“Our mother’s room…” Lest spoke up.

The emperor nodded, “Yes, she intended to find something in her room. That was the time when Father learned of your family’s secret along with the research regarding the rune spheres. That was also the time I first got interested in the Earthmates Father hated so much.”

Lest looked at Halwell, “But… you never thought of finishing off, right?”

Halwell let out a chuckle, “Have no fear, I have no interest in dirtying my hands with the blood of others,” the smile on the emperor’s face turned into a frown, “Unfortunately, even after Father’s passing, the Elders insisted that I take his place as the emperor and continue hunting Earthmates. Their reason for that was they thought the fall of Sechs was caused by Earthmates and they thought all Earthmates are people who used their powers with ill intent,” the smile on Halwell’s face returned as he looked at Lest, “But I am already aware of the truth. There is no need for you to apologize for what happened to my father. You had to, in order to protect your own people at home.”

It was Lest’s turn to smile, “Thanks…”

The two continued talking for a while, with Halwell talking about how Ethelberd and his birth mother raised him. Having shared the same evil father never actually make them turn to Ethelberd’s evil ways as their other family members had taught them to good way of thinking. Lest had Frey to teach him about the good things about the world while Halwell had his mother to show him how to be a good leader.

An hour of talking had passed and Arthur had returned with the news of their arrival in the capital. Unlike the first time Lest came there, more soldiers were stationed as they headed towards the king’s audience room. Lest had to stay outside for a moment while Arthur and Halwell discussed about the issues between Norad and Sechs, until they both came out to call for Lest.

“The king wants to see me?” Lest asked to confirm, getting a nod from Arthur.

“Yes,” Arthur replied as he moved out of the way with Halwell, “He needed to see you privately, so I shall lead Sir Halwell to his escorts to accompany him back to the empire. I shall be waiting here to wait for you to finish your discussion with my father.”

“Okay…” Lest looked at the two nobles as they left, feeling that they had resolved the issues between the two countries.

Lest pushed the doors open and saw the king on his throne along with his butler at his side. Noticing as Lest walked over to the throne, the king managed to send the reluctant butler out of the room. Lest came face-to-face with the man, who looked at him with a bit of guilt before rushing out of the room. The Earthmate looked at the king as he rose from his seat and walked down the stairs to his level, much to his surprise.

“Y-Your Majesty?!” Lest exclaimed in surprise as the ruler of the kingdom stood in front of him.

“Lest, I wish to beg for your forgiveness,” Lest was even more surprised when the king took off his crown and lowered his head, “Please accept my apology for the things I did to you and your sister.”

“I… I don’t understand…” Lest looked at the king in confusion.

“Because of my own family’s grudge, I had to force you and Frey to carry the burden of finishing off Ethelberd,” the king looked up at Lest, holding his crown on his chest, “That man had killed my brother, the previous king, and the family of his Earthmate relative. To be exact, the family of the Earthmate who had foiled his plans.”

“But… why did Frey lose her life in the first place, before she decided to help you with your revenge?” Lest asked.

“If I had to assume, it was her greed,” the king replied, “From the background checks I had on her, she was never born with Earthmate powers.”

“She… wasn’t an Earthmate?” Lest asked in disbelief.

“Yes,” the king noded, “I have not found her reason for that greed, but the fact she used a rune sphere to gain more power turned her into a living rune sent into the forest. It was at that time a certain Earthmate who shared the same pain as mine came to me to have her help me.”

The king handed him a single envelope, “A letter?”

“Frey gave me that letter on the day she left this castle for the last time,” the king explained as Lest examined the letter, “It is a private letter for you, so you will not find Norad’s seal anywhere on that letter.”

“I will take this letter from you, Your Majesty,” Lest put the letter in his rucksack before bowing, “Thank you,” Lest paused for a moment before he looked back at the king, “But that Earthmate… can you tell me who he is?”

“My apologies,” the king shook his head, “He does not want to have his identity revealed. If there is anything more I can tell you, he is not related to you by blood.”

“I see… I’m sorry,” Lest apologized, “If there’s nothing else, I should be on my way…”

“Yes,” the king put his crown back, “Please, take care…”

* * *

Lest and Arthur traveled back to Selphia with the airship, with Lest locking himself in his room to open Frey’s letter. There was a neatly folded piece of paper containing the letter itself along with a worn piece of paper with an image of a white and black fish swimming in circles. The image of the fish was a perfect match to the fish on the charms he and Frey had.

“Is this a story about these charms?” Lest flipped the worn paper before setting it down on the table as he took the letter.

_Lest,_

_If you’re reading this, it must’ve mean that my time has run out or I’ve finally carried out my mission. Our mother’s research about the rune spheres and rune lakes came to the conclusion that she had to create rune spheres made of pure runes from the lake. Those pure runes can turn a normal human into an Earthmate without any drawbacks, but it can turn that person into a living rune if that person’s heart isn’t pure. I had envied your Earthmate powers for a long time and I’ve started becoming power hungry, which led me to become a living rune when I wished to have Earthmate powers like you. I wish I didn’t do it, so that I can still be by your side even for a while longer. I wish I could meet you sooner, so the meaning of those charms we have can come true. I just want to stay with you. I can’t say the reason why, but I know that I can at least give you a page from the history book belonging to our family. It’s a hint, so I really hope that you get the message, okay?_

_P.S. I stole the book from our mother’s old room a few years ago. It’s a little old, so take good care of it!_

The letter made Lest chuckle a bit as he switched to the worn paper, “Let’s see what she wanted me to see here… huh?”

Lest read the passage over and over, which seemed familiar to him. He knew that he had the charms with the same fish figures as the ones drawn on the page, but he felt like he had heard the words in the passage.

**_-Flashback-_ **

_“The koi itself represents courage,” Sara read a book she was holding as she was lying on the bed along with her twin children, “The colors black and white are the colors of yin and yang, each representing the dark and the light.”_

_“Mommy, are those thingies on your desk the yinyang?” Lest asked curiously as he pointed at her desk, getting a head pat from his mother._

_“Well, those are the family heirloom passed down in my family,” Sara reached for the charms on the desk as she showed them to the two, “The black koi and the white koi, together they are believed to bring together families, siblings, or even lovers! Here, I can give them to you two.”_

_Lest was given the white koi fish while Frey was given the black one, getting a protest from Lest, “But Mommy, I want the black one!”_

_“I’m sorry Lest, but the black one usually represents a female…” Sara looked at Lest, who kept looking at her with pleading look._

_“Lest, let’s switch!” Frey suddenly suggested, “Come on, Mommy! Didn’t you say I’m your sparkling little lady?”_

_Sara looked at her daughter in surprise before letting out a smile, “Well, I suppose you’re right, dear…”_

**_-End of Flashback-_ **

“It was back then, huh…” Lest took off his own charm and held both his and Frey’s in his hand, until he noticed the lunch boxes sitting on the table in front of him, “Oh yeah, the lunches Dolly made…”

Lest opened the top most box of the lunches and the smell of cheese came out from the box. It was actually gratin, one of the dishes he asked Dolce to make for him. The good smell of food and the fact that his energy was drained from all the fighting he had done for the day made him finish everything quickly, leaving the last box on the table.

Suspecting it was another portion for Frey, Lest opened it to finish it as well, only to find that the last box didn’t contain food at all. Lest took out the blue wool scarf from the box, looking at it in confusion. He turned to look at the small window in his room, which showed that it was snowing outside.

“Oh, right. It’s almost winter…” Lest put the scarf around his neck, feeling its warmth, “It’s… warm…”


	37. The Family I Can Call My Own

The airship landed safely in Selphia, with the townspeople present to greet Lest and Arthur’s arrival. Due to Arthur’s earlier notification about what happened to Lest and Frey through the carrier pigeon, the people treated Lest as if he was the only one leaving. As Lest went through the welcoming crowd, none of them dared to mention Frey. He went through the sea of people until he arrived at the end, where someone who had been longing for his return was waiting.

Dolce noticed the blue scarf around his neck and smiled, “Welcome home, Sweetie…”

“I’m home, Dolly,” Lest ran over to give her a tight embrace, “I won’t leave your side again…”

_“Wait, just a hug?”_ Pico popped out behind Dolce, facing Lest with an annoyed look on her face, _“Dolly’s been so worried about you leaving for almost the whole day and-”_

A single talisman landed on her face, saving the Guardian from having more of her feelings revealed, “Just… ignore her.”

Lest let out a chuckle before he held Dolce in his arms, “Shall we go home?”

The Guardian blushed and smiled, “Yes.”

* * *

A warm bath after a good rest and a good meal made Lest feel like that night was just like any other night as if nothing big had happened. He was on his way back to his room when he saw that Dolce and Pico were hanging on the balcony even though dressed for bed. They were talking as they watched the falling snow as it was almost winter before Lest’s presence interrupted their chat.

“Have you finished your bath?” Dolce asked as she and Pico turned to the uninvited guest.

“Yeah, and sorry if I bother you and Pico,” Lest gave them a smile before turning to Pico as she was going to move away from the scene, “Don’t worry, Pico. You can stay with us if you want.”

_“I see that you notice me here!”_ Pico responded sarcastically, _“I thought that you can see is just milady and I’m just-ow!”_

A slap had knocked the ghost on the back of her head as Dolce put a talisman on it, “Don’t talk too much, stupid ghost.”

With a disappointed look, Pico headed for their bedroom while muttering barely audible words. Dolce let out a sigh before turning back to look at Lest, but not without an embarrassed blush on her face, “T-There’s no need to have Pico lingering around me all the time and say a bunch of dumb things.”

“Don’t worry, I can pretty much tell what you’re feeling,” Lest embarrassed her further with his innocent smile, “You don’t have to hide everything from me!”

“Everything, huh…” Dolce looked at him with a small smile, before her smile turned into a frown as she turned her eyes off him, “I… I’m sorry… for hiding something from you. I had to, because I promised-”

“You promised Frey, didn’t you?” Lest finished her sentence calmly before putting his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, “Don’t worry, I understand why you did it anyway. And I don’t mind at all.”

“But she’s the family you had wanted to find, isn’t she?” Dolce asked in a soft tone, “And to know that she’s already…”

“Yeah, I know,” Dolce turned to Lest in surprise as he looked up at the snowy sky, “But I remember everything… Our childhood, family issues, everything… She showed me everything…”

“I… see…” Dolce turned to look at the ground instead, feeling a bit distant.

“That was all in the past,” Lest’s word gave her another surprise as she turned to him, looking face-to-face with her beloved Earthmate, “I already have you here and our little one,” Lest put his free hand gently on Dolce’s stomach, “This little miracle, right here.”

“True,” Dolce nodded in agreement as she put her hand on his.

“Oh right, I was thinking of giving you something,” Lest removed her hand, much to her disappointment, as he took out the charm he and Frey had shared, “Here, please have this.”

Dolce looked back and forth between Lest and the charm in his hand, “What is that?”

“It’s a charm passed down in my mother family,” Lest reached for his neck and showed the black koi fish charm he was wearing, “It’s like this one I’m wearing and they both hold a meaning.”

Dolce took the charm from Lest’s hand and stared at it in admiration, “This is made in great detail. I can see that the original creator put a lot of effort into making this masterpiece.”

“Y-Yeah, but I still don’t know who actually made it,” Lest held his own charm in his hands, “In my family’s history, it’s believed that these charms bring together families, siblings, and… lovers…”

Dolce stopped herself from feeling the charm’s shape as a blush made it back to her face, “I-I see… They can bind couples… together…”

Lest smiled as he watched his wife, “But I know that you’re not just any lover or wife to,” Dolce looked at him confusion as he continued, “That white charm I gave you was actually mine, given by my mother, but I believe it suits you better,” Lest held on to his charm, “I felt like I was in the dark when I knew everything, so the dark side, this black charm, suits me. On the other hand, you’re always there for me even when I’m all depressed and washed all that darkness within me with your light,” Lest took Dolce’s hand with both of his as he looked at her in the eyes, “You’re my light, Dolly. My life was dark and your light made my life brighter. Thank you for being a part of my life and my family.”

Dolce looked at him, completely speechless before he gently took the charm from her hand, putting it around her neck. When Lest wasn’t looking at her, she let out a smile as she whispered to his ear, “You’re going to pay for all the embarrassing things you say tonight.”

“Huh? What-” Lest was surprised when Dolce wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss.

Dolce chuckled as she saw Lest’s surprised look, “There’s no need for you to say such things too often.”

There was a short silence between them before the cold wind blew, making the female Guardian shiver from the cold. Even if she liked the cold weather, she was still a human being who had her limits on the extreme temperatures. She could enjoy the cold weather more under normal circumstances, such as when she wasn’t wearing a thin nightgown and standing outside late at night.

Lest smiled as he saw his wife rubbing her hands together for some warmth before unrolling the warm scarf he was wearing, putting it around their neck. Dolce looked at Lest in surprise and his smile never left his face, “I can see that you’re cold, so I’m sharing some warmth with you.”

“We could just get inside, you know,” Dolce responded flatly.

“Maybe, but a bit of quality time like this once in a while isn’t so bad, is it?” Lest replied, getting a nod from Dolce.

“Well, I guess that’s true,” Dolce let out a small smile as she leaned her head on Lest’s shoulder, “This isn’t too bad.”

“We’ve shared our pain, our sorrows, and our homes. I want us to share life together for a long time. It will be the best reward we deserve for all that has happened for the past few weeks. I want to spend the rest of my life with the family I can call my own.”


	38. Oddest Cravings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's my christmas present to you guys: the first of two extra chapters!

Seeing the two pairs of surprised eyes looking at her, Dolce let out an irritated sigh, “Do I need to repeat myself? I said I want to eat fried veggies, turnip heaven, and vegetable juice tonight.”

The other two blinked a few times before looking at each other and back at the Guardian, still looking surprised, _“Are you sure about what you’re asking for dinner, Dolly?”_

“I-It’s not that I don’t want to do it or anything… nor does it cause trouble…” Lest explained nervously, “It’s just that you’ve been asking for nothing but dishes containing mostly vegetables…”

“I only feel like having those now,” Dolce replied sternly, “Is that a problem?”

“Not at all!” Lest replied quickly, “I’ll get the ingredients ready for tonight!”

“Good,” Dolce walked past him in satisfaction before she suddenly stopped and turned to him, “Oh, one more thing. If possible, I want tonight’s rice to be chilled first.”

As if her previous unusual requests weren’t enough, the chilled rice for dinner was added to the pile of her odd requests. Lest and Pico watched speechlessly as Dolce went out for a walk while it was still sunny outside. Even after Jones and Nancy mentioned about how pregnant woman could crave for something, they never expected her cravings to be her most hated dishes.

With his stiff steps, Lest slowly made his way to the kitchen with Pico shortly following behind him. His fridge was filled with various vegetables due to Dolce’s craving for them, but none of them were the ingredients Lest needed for cooking. He closed the fridge as both of them sigh, knowing that they had to find several kinds of vegetables before night time.

“So we have absolutely nothing we can use for the ingredients…” Lest started, getting a nod from Pico.

_“If we’re lucky, Blossom might have some vegetables in stock… now, what do we need again?”_ Pico asked.

“We need three different kinds of turnips, a pumpkin, a carrot, some spinach, a cabbage…” Lest rubbed the back of his head nervously, “And we’re out of rice too, sadly.”

Pico let out a sigh, _“That’s a lot of stuff we need… do you have any planted somewhere?”_

“Now that you mentioned it…” Lest tapped his chin as he was thinking, “I think I’ve planted a few golden turnips out of town, but I don’t know if they’re ripe yet. The other two turnips should be ripe today, so I can go and pick them. Cabbages are out of the question, I planted them just yesterday.”

_“I can go and ask Blossom to spare a few others, so you can go out of town and pick the rest of the vegetables,”_ Pico suggested, _“While Dolly is in town, I can’t go anywhere beyond that gate.”_

“Okay,” Lest nodded in agreement, “Sounds like a good plan.”

* * *

Lest sheathed his dual blades as he walked into the field area where the crops were, harvesting the already ripe ones. The cabbage he planted yesterday had just sprouted while most of the turnips were ripe and had been harvested, leaving only the glowing golden crop he needed still not ready for a harvest.

“Oh, come on!” Lest let out a complaint before sitting down in front of the growing crop, “It’s supposed to be ripe today…” Lest let out a sigh before he pushed himself back to his feet, “No, there should be another way to get one today…”

The Earthmate put his hands on the blades’ hilts as he ran out of the field and called for the airship to pick him up. He remembered beating a certain type of monster which might drop him this rare and hard-to-grow vegetable.

* * *

Pico hovered into general store, but only saw the red-haired dwarf moving some boxes around the store, “Oh, uh… You’re alone?”

_“Yeah, and I’m just asking for some stuff in stock,”_ Pico hovered over the counter as Doug put the box down beside him, _“Do you have any pumpkins, carrots, spinach, cabbages, and some rice in stock? And a few golden turnips too, just in case.”_

“Yeah, maybe I have some in stock today,” Doug flashed a smile, “Wait here, I’ll check the shelves.”

_“Oh, while you’re at it, can you go and deliver it to the castle?”_ Pico asked as she watched the dwarf looking around the shelves, _“You can ask for the payment to Lest later.”_

“Sorry, can’t do today,” Doug replied as he stacked some boxes together, “Granny’s out today so I can’t leave the shop,” Doug put a wrapped bowl of rice on the counter along with a few other vegetables, “Here’s all we have today. Carrots are sold out for now, not sure if the supplier is gonna come today. Same with that golden turnip.”

_“What?!”_ Pico exclaimed in surprise, _“How can you be sold out at a time like this?! You must have some left somewhere around the store!”_

“Hey! What do you expect me to do when they’re out of stock?!” Doug responded with an annoyed tone, “Now are you buying or not?”

“What is this all about?” the ghost and the dwarf were surprised by the sudden calling coming from the dragon knight at the door, “Blossom won’t be too happy to hear that you are being rude to the customers.”

“W-Well, Pico insisted that I missed the stuff she wanted in the store, but I surely didn’t!” Doug let out his protest, “I checked everything and I don’t have what I say I don’t have!”

“Um…” Forte looked at Pico nervously, but not because of the anger on the ghost’s eye, “D-Doug, are you sure you have checked everything?”

“What?! Are you siding with her now?” Doug asked in surprise before he angrily pushed the empty boxes for the two to see, “These are the boxes where we keep the carrots and golden turnips. See? They’re empty!”

“Okay, I can see that you aren’t lying,” Forte stole a nervous glance at Pico before turning back to Doug, “If this is all she is buying, I can pay for them.”

_“Wow, really?”_ Pico’s face brightened up before she threw herself towards Forte, _“Thank you so much-yikes!”_

Pico stopped midway as Forte drew her sword, but held it with shaking hands, “M-My apologies, but could you please keep your distance from me?” Pico dropped herself lower from the shock as Forte paid for the items, “And if I’m not mistaken, I heard that there was a landslide around the path where your supplier usually goes through, so he might arrive here the day after tomorrow the earliest.”

“Shoot, just when the stock is running out too,” Doug let out a sigh, “Well, thanks for letting me know anyway…”

“No, that wasn’t my initial intention of coming here,” Forte held her sword as she smiled at him confidently, “I will lend a helping hand to that supplier, as an apology for the false accusation earlier.”

“It’s not that big deal, but thanks!” Doug gave her a thumb up before the two girls left the store.

* * *

“Hah!” Lest single-handedly swung his dual blades around, knocking out the monsters surrounding him.

Unlike various kinds of monsters he and Frey had to face when they first came there, he was only dealing with one kind of monster instead. They had the heads shaped like turnips and were flying around Lest, who managed to send them back to the forest with a single hit. Unfortunately for Lest, none of the turnip ghosts left anything when they were sent back.

Lest used his blades as support as he fell to one knee, panting heavily. He couldn’t remember how long he had been hunting for the turnip ghosts or how many of them he taken down. The only things he could think of were the fact that he was tired and he was fighting in the sea of regular turnips.

Lest paused for a moment as he noticed how the place had become completely silent compared to when the place was crawling with the ghost monsters. He looked up and around, which was completely devoid of monsters. As he was about to sheathe his blades and think of a good excuse for missing a single dish, a loud roar was heard from behind his back.

A dark shadow fell over him as Lest turned around, “What the…”

A much bigger version of the turnip ghosts he had been fighting all this time came from behind him with eyes thirsty for revenge. Even with his tired body, Lest had no other choice but to defeat the monster. After all, the monster was blocking his only way out of the area.

Lest raised some rock spikes from under the monster in order to immobilize it long enough for him to get closer. He slashed the monster a few times before jumping back and avoiding the water laser sent towards him. When the laser couldn’t hit him, a barrage of fireballs managed to knock him a bit before he countered with another slash.

While he was still close to the monster, he sheathed his blades and continued the fight with his bare hands. After all the training he had done, his punches were enough to knock it off towards a nearby tree. Lest took the chance as it was still down and delivered the final blow, breaking the tree and sent the monster flying before it was sent back to the forest.

Lest was even more tired as he panted heavily, but was still conscious enough to notice the sound of a falling object nearby. He turned to look at the object, assuming it for another regular turnip, only to see the glowing golden color of the object, “That… that’s…!” Lest hurriedly ran over to the golden object, which was bigger than he expected it to be, “I got a golden tyrant turnip!”

* * *

It was getting darker in Selphia and the ghost-Earthmate duo had managed to gather the ingredients to make the three requested dishes. Pico, who had had a long day with Forte to help the crops supplier, had collapsed in the bedroom while Lest was nodding off as he was cooking the last and the hardest dish.

“Done!” Lest raised his fist to cheer, before they were dropped to his sides as he let out a tired sigh, “Now… to put this… with the others…” Lest carefully put the finished dish along with the other one he had made before he collapsed on the table from exhaustion.

It was only a few minutes later that the female Guardian came home to find cooked dishes and the chilled rice set on the table along with her collapsed husband. Not wanting to wake him up, Dolce quietly sat by the table and looked at the dishes in awe. She knew that Lest would listen to her selfish request, but she never expected her recent request would actually involve even Forte.

Dolce took a spoonful of rice and turnip slices for a taste before letting out a smile, “It’s… delicious…”


	39. Preparation Troubles

“Here you go, everything you ordered is in this bag,” Lest took the bag of medicines from the older nurse with a smile before he went to check the items inside.

“Okay, that’s everything,” Lest reclosed the paper bag, “Thanks Nancy.”

“Just come by if you need anything or have Dolly bring her home next time she has her shift,” as Lest was walking towards the door, Nancy suddenly stopped him, “Ah, wait. Speaking of Dolly, have you two been in a fight?”

“Huh?” Lest turned to Nancy with a confused look, “Not from what I can remember, though… The only thing I remember is she being a little too nice this morning. Pico was pretty happy with her actions anyway…”

“Is that so…?” Nancy looked confused, “I saw her crying at the observatory this morning before she suddenly got mad. I didn’t have the chance to ask what’s wrong… Ah! I assume that’s the reason why…”

“D-Did I do something wrong?” Lest asked nervously.

“I think my little Dolly is having mood swings!” Nancy put her hands together in excitement, “Although this is something I probably shouldn’t be excited about… While it’s common in pregnant women, it might be best for you to be with her so the worst things don’t happen.”

“Yeah, maybe I should…” Lest replied with a nod, “She should be having her shift right now, but I haven’t seen her around.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Nancy remembered, “Jones and I decided to give her a few days off until her due date. I suggested that she visit her friends, so she could be with any of the other girls today.”

“Okay, I’ll go and check on her.”

* * *

“Dolce?” Forte asked before stopping her training, “Yes, she and Pico came by this morning looking troubled. Although…”

“Although?” Lest looked at the dragon knight in confusion, prompting her to continue.

“She had quite an unusual request of trying to learn how to use swords…” Forte turned to weapon rack filled with all shapes of swords and spears, “To be honest I was happy when she said she was interested in learning it to be able to protect her child, but I can’t let her fight until the baby is born.”

“So… did you suggest an alternative?” Lest asked.

“I simply told her that I shall be there to protect them. It is my duty to protect you and your family along with the people of Selphia,” Forte gave him a frown, “Unfortunately, they left looking quite disappointed. That was around an hour before I heard something breaking coming from the inn.”

“I think I have an idea what happened, but I think I’ll just check the inn for now…”

* * *

“You are looking for Dolce, yes?” Xiao Pai was standing behind the counter with a plate on her head, “She left after she asked for a cooking lesson, but I think I messed up with the cooking…”

“I don’t think it’s as bad as I think…” Lest laughed nervously, “But why did Dolly ask you for a cooking lesson?”

“She wants to learn to cook better for you and the baby, yes?” Xiao Pai replied with a smile before it soon turned into a frown, “Everything was going well until we finished cooking… because I broke the plates when we were going to put our dish on it…”

“Um…” Lest gave her a stare out of pity.

“You don’t have to worry, yes? The broken plates are already gone by the time they left for the restaurant,” the young inn keeper’s movement managed to knock the plate off her head before it fell down, “Ah! I broke another one!”

“Uh… sorry, I need to go to the next stop…”

* * *

Lest went through the restaurant doors, only to be greeted by an empty room in the middle of the usual rush hour, “Um… is it open yet?”

“Oh, sorry!” Dylas ran over to Lest from the counter, “What’s your order?”

“Sorry, but I’m not here to eat,” Lest looked around the empty restaurant, “What happened here? It’s usually a lot busier at this hour…”

“Ugh, don’t remind me…” Dylas rubbed his collar uneasily, “Long story short, your wife just drove the customers away like a monster.”

“Huh?” Lest looked at the long-haired Guardian in confusion.

“Dylas, you know that’s not a very nice thing to say!” Margaret came from behind him, “Sorry about him, Lest. It’s… kind of complicated…”

“It’s okay, I think that’s just her mood swing again which is common for her around this time,” Lest let out a tired sigh, “So… what happened here?”

Margaret let out a smile, “Dolce came here wanting me to teach her how to sing some children songs, but the restaurant was very busy when she and Pico came by,” her smile turned into a frown, “She was very upset when it was too noisy here, so she yelled them to be quiet. Dylas happened to be there when she yelled, so she more or less yelled on Dylas’ ear…”

Lest turned to look at Dylas, “She’s got a really loud yell… I can’t believe you can put up with her everyday…”

Lest laughed nervously, “Maybe she does, but she doesn’t raise her voice that often,” Lest turned back to Margaret, “What happened next?”

“Dylas was upset, but Dolce pulled his collar when he tried arguing back. That’s when the customers thought there was a brawl and everyone left,” Margaret let out a sigh, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry on your family matters but… did you do something to upset her?”

“I hope it’s just the mood swing,” Lest nervously replied, imagining how the events played out in his mind, “Anyways, did they go anywhere else?”

“Well, she mentioned about seeing Amber and Ellie,” Margaret replied, “She didn’t mention what she was going to do there, but I know I heard her heading there.”

“Okay, I’ll be heading to their place then,” Lest nodded before looking back at Dylas, “Dylas, do you want me to get Jones to check on you?”

“Nah, this is nothing,” Dylas rubbed his ear, “Your wife is more important, don’t you think?”

“Right. I’ll see you two later then!”

* * *

Lest pushed door open, only to be surprised by a sudden yelling.

“I got you now, criminals… huh?” Illuminata came from behind the counter before she recognized the shocked Earthmate, “Oh, Lest! Your wife just left a while ago. Or did you come here to buy something? Or perhaps…” the elf fixed her monocle, “you have a mystery for me to solve?”

“I came here for Dolly and definitely not for the last reason,” Lest replied as he approached the counter, noticing the sight of sleeping Amber on the chair behind the counter, “Is she sleeping there?”

“Don’t worry, she won’t be bothered if that’s what you’re thinking,” Illuminata slammed her hands on the table, surprising Lest, “So… let me guess what you’re going to ask…”

“Did something happen here while she’s here? I’m checking if she’s doing okay,” Lest asked.

“Oh, you’re not going to let me, the Great Detective to guess?” Illuminata stared at him for a moment, “She was just here to relax and have some tea. There seems to be a lot in her mind, but she didn’t say a word about it.”

“She’s been through a lot in a single day,” Lest spoke up, “She’s been asking around the others for various thing about taking care of the child, but she never actually mentioned them to me… I can remember my childhood days so I know that I can take care-”

“I think I understand the situation,” the self-proclaimed elven detective smiled, “I don’t want to get involved with your family matters, so I can only give you one suggestion.”

“What’s your suggestion?” Lest asked.

“Talk to her,” Lest looked at her in confusion, “There won’t be a misunderstanding between you two if you just have a talk with each other. Don’t you think so?”

“Yeah…” Lest answered slowly, before he nodded once he realized something, “Yeah, I think I should!”

“Well, I wish you luck! Don’t make me sneak into the castle just to make sure you two resolve your problems!” Illuminata held her monocle proudly, “I can assure you that I can do such thing!”

“No, please… just don’t.”

* * *

Dolce had been lying on the king-sized bed with Pico looking at her worriedly from the side of the bed. The constant sighing and the silent treatment she was getting made her wish that she could say something to lift her mood for the better, even just for a moment. Pico’s face brightened up when she saw Lest coming into the room, unlike Dolce who unenthusiastically sat up on the bed.

_“Lest! It’s great that you’re back early!”_ Pico turned back to Dolce, _“Milady is… kinda not herself…”_

“Yeah, I know,” Lest frowned as he took a seat next to Dolce, “I have myself to blame because I’ve been so busy in the farm or fighting monsters outside…”

“You don’t have to dote on me like Nancy did,” Dolce responded coldly, “I can manage on my own.”

_“Lest, can I leave her to you?”_ Pico asked as she hovered off the bed, _“Dolly didn’t allow me to tell you what she’s feeling, but I know that you need to talk to her.”_

“Don’t worry, that’s what I’m planning to,” Pico gave him a nod before disappearing from the room.

“There’s no point in us talking if you don’t know what you’re going to talk to me about,” Dolce said flatly before turning her head away from Lest, “Just leave me alone.”

“No, because I know that’s not what you want now,” Lest closed the distance between them, “I know from the others that you’re preparing everything for our child. But… you could have told me if you needed anything.”

“When… when can I tell you…?” Dolce’s reply was shaky with some sniffling sound heard, “You’re only here early in the morning and very late at night… You’re already gone when I got up and you’re back when I’m already…”

“Yeah, and that’s what I want to fix,” Lest put an arm around her shoulders, “I’ll spend more time with you and take care of your needs. If you just want to spend some time in a date, I’ll make some time for you. And-”

Dolce threw her arms around him, burying her face on his chest, “Stop,” she tightened her embrace around him, “You’re working too hard… I know that already… I just… don’t want to get in your way…”

“No, you’re never in my way,” Lest held Dolce in his arms, “I should be doing my part to help you through this whole thing, yet I’m spending more time with my fields instead of taking care of my own wife. I’m sorry…”

“Promise me one thing,” Dolce whispered.

“What is it? I’m listening,” Lest replied in another whisper.

“We will take care of our child together,” Dolce fixed her position so that she was leaning on Lest’s shoulder instead and put a hand on her growing stomach, “Let them be born in a loving family, just like we are.”

“Yeah, I promise…” Lest put a hand on Dolce’s stomach as well, before he felt something moving, “Huh… Did they just…?”

“Did you feel it too?” a smile appeared on her face, “They’re very active in there, even at night. They must’ve taken after you, being a very active little one.”

“Whoever they take after, I can’t wait to see them!” Lest rubbed the little bump on his wife’s stomach.

“Yes, me too…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next and final chapter here will most likely be up after AO3 goes back up. Look forward to it!


	40. Gratitude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the final chapter!

The right castle door was slammed open as the panicked Earthmate carried his wife in his arms. He ran towards the clinic, shoving anyone in his way with the ghost girl trying to keep up with his speed. While it was still early in the morning, the town square was crowded enough for Lest to shove the people away in panic. Pico followed behind with a quick apologize to the people Lest had pushed, but the fact that she was flying and half transparent had scared the town’s newcomers instead.

As soon as they had arrived, Dolce was taken in by Nancy for the delivery while Lest and Pico waited on the other side of the clinic with Jones. As much as he wanted to help Nancy, his fear of blood could only cause more work for her. The doctor could only watch Lest and Pico pacing around the room restlessly as they were waiting.

The sound of a crying baby in the room had turned the attention of the three in the room. Instead of Nancy coming out with his new bundle of joy, it was only her voice heard from the other side of the clinic partition, “Don’t come in yet! There’s still another one coming!”

“Huh?” Lest and Pico turned to each other, still processing the new information they heard, “Did she say…”

_“There’s another one?”_ Lest and Pico turned to Jones for an explanation.

“This is a rare case of having twins,” Jones explained the confused duo, “Lest having a twin sister isn’t a factor in this case, so this is a rare occurrence.”

The sound of baby crying was heard once more before Nancy moved the partition to reveal the tiny babies Dolce was holding as she was lying in bed. She tiredly turned to her husband with a smile, “Sweetie, aren’t they cute?”

“Yes…” Lest gave a kiss on her forehead, “They’re lovely children.”

“Well,” Nancy’s voice gained the couple’s attention, “Dolly just gave to a pair of twins, just like how you and Frey are! A cute little boy and girl!”

“Sweetie, do you have any good names in mind?” Dolce asked, “For our little boy and little girl?”

“Hm… how about Noel?” Lest suggested, “Noel is our son and Luna is our daughter. Do you like them?”

“Yeah, I like them,” Dolce turned to the two new lives she just risked her life for, “Do you want to hold them?”

“Yes!” Lest answered excitedly before taking the newborns in his arms, “Noel, Luna! I’m your daddy!” Lest showed the newborns to Dolce, “Look! There’s your mommy!”

_“Hey, aren’t you forgetting someone?”_ Pico appeared on top of Lest’s shoulder, taking a peek at the babies as Lest handed them back to Dolce, _“Hey! Your good aunt Pico is here!”_

“Pico,” Dolce called out with a smile, “Do you want to hold their hands? Just like how you hold mine?”

_“I-Is that okay?”_ Pico asked in excitement, getting a nod from Dolce, _“Okay!”_ Pico held out her hand for the twins to hold, which they did, _“Their hands are so warm… just like yours, Dolly…”_

* * *

The joy of the two new lives born in Selphia soon spread throughout the whole town and eventually, the whole kingdom as well. The king of Norad was smiling as he read the letter Arthur had sent him about the news, which was also one of the few letters from him which wasn’t work-related. The king stayed in his room and wrote a response letter immediately, wishing the new parents good luck and gratitude for the help before.

Halwell had also received the same letter from Arthur and was reading it with his friend and newly-appointed advisor Kane. The old and strict Sechs Empire was no more and it was evident when the emperor suddenly decided on a party to celebrate a birth from another country. After what he had done for Halwell, Kane, and Sechs itself, the emperor had no reason for not being happy for Lest’s new family.

* * *

A few seasons had passed since Noel and Luna was born and a thin layer of hair had grown from the twins’ head, making it easier for their parents to tell the difference. Noel had his father’s hazel hair with his mother’s eyes and Luna had her mother’s hair and her father’s eyes. Even after growing up a little, they were still too little for Lest and Dolce to tell which of their behavior each of the twins would take after.

It was already night time, but Dolce spent her night out in the balcony while carrying Noel in her arms and Pico hovering behind her.

“Aren’t you feeling tired yet, my little Noel?” Dolce asked as she slightly rocked her son in her arms, “Or are you waiting for Daddy to finish his bath?”

_“Um… Dolly? You’re baby talking again…”_ Pico reminded, but she was being completely ignored, _“Dolly, he’s going to come out anytime now!”_

“Maybe next time you can take a bath with Daddy, okay?” Dolce’s attention was completely into Noel, who was laughing at the sight for Lest behind her, “Now be Mommy’s good boy and go to…”

Dolce turned to head for the bedroom, only to see that Lest was standing there with a sleeping Luna in his arms. Lest gave her a smile, “If you’re having trouble putting Noel to sleep, we can switch next time. Luna went to sleep almost immediately after I gave her a bath.”

Dolce didn’t give him a reply, but instead glared at him as a blush appeared on her face, “You… didn’t hear anything, right?”

“Uh… no, not at all!” Lest let out a nervous laugh.

“I know you heard something!” Dolce protested, “I-If you don’t then why are you laughing?”

“Well, I’m just… feeling happy with everything,” Lest answered as he joined his wife on the balcony, “A lot has happened from the past few decades until it comes to this, when Venti is well and you Guardians are back to your lives, even when they’re no longer the same.”

“Yes,” Dolce nodded, “And I didn’t regret my decision to become a Guardian. If it wasn’t for my parents letting me do it, I wouldn’t be here now…” Dolce turned to Lest with a smile before noticing that Lest was looking up at the sky with his eyes closed, “Sweetie, what are you doing?”

“Me?” Lest opened his eyes, “I’m letting your parents know that I’m grateful for them,” Lest turned to look at Dolce, “Grateful to them for letting me meet you and build a family together.”

“O-Oh…” a quiet response came from her mouth as a blush appeared from her face. Noel suddenly pulled the charm hanging on her neck, making her remember of the charm’s original owner, “I suppose I owe someone else too for this time.”

Lest watched as Dolce held her charm, “Yeah… It’s been a year since then, hasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Dolce looked up at the sky with a smile, “If it wasn’t for her, you might not even be here right now…”

Lest smiled sadly, “True…”

_“Hey, you lovebirds!”_   Pico called out suddenly, _“It’s getting late already, so don’t you think you should put the twins to bed by now? Even Noel looks sleepy now.”_

As if on cue, Noel let out a yawn and made his mother’s shoulder as a pillow. Dolce let out a smile as she gently patted his back, “Yes. The wind is getting colder at this time of the night, especially when winter is only a few days away.”

“Yeah,” Lest nodded in agreement, “Come on, let’s get inside and turn in for the night.”

Lest and Pico went ahead with Dolce following slowly behind, but not before she took another glance at the sky and smiled.

_“Dolce,”_ a familiar voice called out to her, making her stop in her tracks.

The tired Noel moved his hands as if he was pointing at something behind Dolce. She turned around and saw a familiar figure standing at the edge of the balcony. The green-haired figure was smiling at her and so was Noel, who could possibly sense her as well.

_“Take care of Lest for me,”_ the image of Frey said before she waved her hands in goodbye and disappeared.

Dolce smiled once more hugging her son closer to her as a single tear dropped from her face when she walked away.

_‘Thank you, Frey. For these happiest moments of my life.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments and kudos! I got a bit emotional at the end after all that's happened during this story's writing. It started when I was still working on my thesis until I finally graduated and this story finally comes to an end. Thank you all once again!


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